Day 19
Amarillo, TX to Tyler, TX - 479 Miles
After a long day yesterday and a late night, our bodies decided we needed an extra couple hours of rest. so we got a very late start on the final leg home. The late start meant that we would be going through the Dallas/Fort Worth area during the peak of rush hour, so we re-routed around the DFW Metroplex on US-82. That routing runs through a bunch of small towns and, as luck would have it, a large roadside grass fire around Gainesville, TX. The fire crews were on the scene, doing their best to get ahead of the flames before they took any structures.
Our cupboards were bare at home, so we stopped for some much-missed sliced brisket at Mack's Split Rail Pit BBQ in Mineola, TX as our dinner meal. We feasted, then embarked on the final few miles to our little log cabin on the lake, aka Camp Run-a-Muk.
Debrief and Recap
First, a few statistics on the trip, compliments of the route planning software used (MyRouteApp.com)...
Distance:
Auto - 4,391 miles (68 hours, 37 minutes)
Motorcycle - 1,139 miles (24 hours, 3 minutes)
Total - 5,530 Miles
Room nights:
14 nights in 12 different hotels
5 (relaxing and wonderful) nights with relatives
This is the first time we have combined so much drive/ride into a vacation and the most miles we have ever traveled on a single trip. The sights along I-70 in Colorado were beautiful (when traffic was moving!) and the leg across the Great Salt Lake Desert is a sight to be seen, for sure. We were just amazed at how the landscape changed so frequently as we drove across Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and Oregon. Oh, and Crater Lake - WOW!!
The Pacific Coast Highway was our first visit to the Northern California and Oregon coastlines, and it was truly awe inspiring. Liz is still talking about the hotel room overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The battery failure and cooling light problems were concerning at the time, but did not really cause that much of an inconvenience in the grand scheme of things. The day spent cruising the old Gold Rush towns and Lake Tahoe left me hungry to see more. I have a full 7-day ride mapped and ready to ride, including Yosemite National Park, but only when the tourist crowds are much smaller. I'm not exactly sure when that is and if it coincides with good riding temps.
Adding down-time in between the drives and rides definitely helped minimize road fatigue. That said, several individual days were too long or too technical near the end of a day when the senses are tired and dull. Something to think about in future route planning.
Most of all, we really enjoyed the opportunity to visit with family living so far away. They don't get guests often, so I think they enjoyed it as well.
And to think, it all began with a chifferobe.
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