May 8, 2022 - Day 2 to Ontario

 May 8, 2022 - Day 2 to Ontario

First of all I would like to say HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY to all you moms out there.  I hope it was a good day.

Today was pretty good.  Started at 65 degrees.  This is a great temperature.  Did I forget to mention that going thru Kansas is VERY windy?  Yesterday when we crossed the state line into Kansas, the wind was crazy strong.  It was like someone turned on the wind switch.  I am glad we only rode for an hour.  This morning we hit the expressway and it was no different.  Wind was very strong.  Here is a pic of Ron.  Pic does not do it justice but he was leaning pretty good from the wind.

This is how we rode for our first leg, about 2 hours.  Our necks will be pretty sore by the end of the day.  I would even hold my helmet with my hand just to give my neck a rest.  The first hour the wind was coming from the south, so our left.  Then there was a huge black cloud.  Temps dropped 5-7 degrees.  Larry looked at the radar on his bike and I checked it on my phone.  We thought for sure we were going to get soaked.  UGH!!! Good thing no rain BUT then within about 1-2 miles, the wind shifted and was coming from the north, our right.  God has a great sense of humor.  We will be evenly sore on both sides.

During one part of the run, the trees were growing sideways.  (kind of hard to see but is was pretty funny) 

Part of yesterday's route and the full route from today will be the same roads on the Run.  So we get to enjoy the wind again.  I am so looking forward to it.

Huge fields of hay bales, then we see a semi with them on it.  I started to do a little calculation.  What else do I have to do?  So I wondered how much weight is on the truck.  Each bale is 1300-1700 pounds.  There are 63 on the truck.  Average 1500 a bale x 63.  

94,500 pounds, 47 tons    That’s a bunch.  

First gas stop of the day, is a gentleman wearing a Navy hat.  We go over to him and thank him for his service. He was a very interesting person and gave us about 15 minute of his time. His name is Craig Blackburn and is a Vietnam vet.

Prior to the service he raced dragsters.  He was #53 for the draft so decided to enlist in the Navy.

 He served 1970-1977  in San Diego Miramar Naval Air Station where he spent his first 2 years in school training. He was a pilot for the F4 which had J79 engines.

He became an instructor for the Vietnam pilots for flight as well as instrumental.  He told lots of stories of flying planes. He had/has a real “need for speed”.   

He asked us to make sure we said "HI" to all you veterans.

We thanked him again and he wished us a safe journey. 

 Thanks Craig for your service.

We crossed into Colorada and the wind really died down.  We thought this was great!  We may have gone 15-20 miles down the road and the wind was worse than Kansas.  (This was a cool sign.)

Ron made a comment “ the wind must have crossed the border illegally”.  UGH 

Here goes Ron again, leaning hard.

Dust was across most of the dirt fields.  Good thing we had full face helmets or we may have been eating the dust.

We came across an unusual sign “Living Snow Fence”.  I won't see this in Ohio.  It is to help prevent snow drifts on the road.

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Yeah. We see mountains!!! Not flat

We ended the day in Denver and are  staying with friends from the Run, Dan and Kay.  We also have a cousin living in Denver, Brittany.  She joined us for dinner.

Brittany is also a veteran.  She served 2005-2011 for the Airforce National Guard.  Most weekends.  She did a 6 month tour in Kuwait as a Logistic Planner.   She followed in her dad's footsteps. He was a Vietnam vet. THANKS Brittany and Uncle Mike for your service.

 

Brittany, Ron, Dan, Kay, Jean, Larry.

Thanks Dan and Kay for your hospitality.

As I write this, my neck is feeling a little sore.  Tomorrow will be a fun day riding around Colorado so hope to have some beautiful pics for you.

Destination: Denver CO

Temps: 67-75

Route: I-70

Total Miles: 485