25/04/2020
As requested, this is the diary of our Support Vehicle Driver from our Tour in 2015
Day 1 – Wednesday 29th July
The first day has gone well, we have covered about 260 miles. Once the guys had checked over their bikes we set-off on what is going to be a long and interesting journey, expected to be just over 8,000 miles. It was a bit haphazard with staying all together, but it didn’t seem to matter too much. We got to the hotel around 5.15. Now about 160 miles south of Niagara, where we head to first thing and then head west towards Chicago.
Day 2 – Thursday 30th July
A two hour journey up to the Niagara Falls, very busy when we got there and little chance of getting on to the Maid of the Mist due to the crowds, but we walked along the US side and stood as close to the top of the falls as possible. The power and strength of the water is just awesome. We had a couple of hours there, before heading off in a westerly direction along the side of Lake Erie.
We crossed the Mississippi river and stopped in a small town called Le Claire, which was quite pretty as it was right on the banks of the river. The bikers all got split up, but when we got to our hotel in Clinton we were soon all reunited.
Day 3 – Friday 31st July
We are now in Iowa on the banks of the mighty Mississippi River, we must be at least a 1000 miles from its entry into the Gulf of Mexico, but even here it is about ½ mile wide. We have covered a lot of miles today. From here on we start getting into some real country. Next week the Blackhills Rally is on and we are already starting to meet literally 100’s of Harley Davidson motorbikes all heading west. We’re told that by the time we get closer to the town on Sunday the roads will be clogged with them.
Day 4 – Saturday 1st August
Just arrived in hotel in South Dakota, in Sioux Falls. First part of the day was through rolling hills and woodland and then into the Great Plains, which were fascinating, by the sheer size of the area and the 10,000’s of acres of corn being grown. I was then the scapegoat for the rest of the team and was pulled in by the Iowa State Police Trooper for speeding. He said that he couldn’t have stopped all five bikes, but could more easily pull me in, as we were all above the speed limit as we left a small town. He was very friendly and interested in what we were doing, he reduced the potential fine considerably for me, but I still have a speeding fine to pay!!
Day 5 – Sunday 2nd August
We were on the road by 8.00am and were soon surrounded by Harley Davidson motor bikes all heading to Sturgis for the 75th annual rally. We have seen 1,000’s of them on the roads and they just keep coming. Apparently by the time they get to Sturgis there will be over 100,000!! We had a good drive apart from where an accident had happened and had to do a 3 point turn on the highway and back down the slip road onto a side road which we then followed for about 10 miles. We then arrived at Badlands National Park, an amazing place, it’s like a mini Grand Canyon. We stopped off twice there and had a good look around, it’s only a small park with one road looping through it. We then drove onto our hotel in Hill City in South Dakota and this place is just full of Harley’s, 1,000’s of them. We have had a quick bite to eat and now we are off to Mount Rushmore. We have now crossed into the Mountain Time Zone, so are 7 hours behind the UK. Tomorrow we drive to Cody, via the Crazy Horse monument which is en route and will eventually be the biggest stone carving in the world. From here on, our daily distances get smaller and there is going to be more and more to see each day.
Day 6 – Monday 3rd August
Correction, yesterday I said that there were going to be 100,000 Harley Davidsons in Sturgis, actually they are expecting 1,000,000!! Quite amazing. Last night we went to Mount Rushmore and en route, about 8 miles about 2,000 bikes past us in the opposite direction, it was just a solid convoy of motorbikes. The place we were staying Hill City was closed to all cars as the bikers had taken it over.
Mount Rushmore was great, you can get quite close to the presidents heads, really worthwhile. This morning we went to Crazy Horse, which will eventually be the largest sculpture in the world, very impressive.
We saw in the distance Devils Tower, which you will recall was the central point of attention in the film Close Encounters. We have seen a variety of scenery today as we pass through Wyoming and we have rated the State as being worthy of a return visit. We went up to 9,000 feet over one mountain pass and on arrival at the bottom were met by a group of Harley bikers.
Now off to a Rodeo evening in Cody, this is real cowboy / cowgirl country. Tomorrow is Yellowstone National Park, really looking forward to that.
Day 7 – Tuesday 4th August
Been a very long day, as we have spent hours in Yellowstone National Park, we have seen Bison from a few feet away, the waterfalls and Old Faithful, the geyser. A great day. Now in Jackson in Wyoming and we like it.
Tomorrow we head down towards Salt Lake, to the west of Salt Lake City. Last night we were at the Rodeo in Cody, which was an interesting experience. The food at the place wasn’t very inviting so we headed back to the hotel to find that everywhere stopped serving at 9.00pm, so we ended up at MacDonald’s for dinner, which wasn’t quite what we had in mind, c’est la vie!!
That’s all for now. More tomorrow
Day 8 – Wednesday 5th August
Just stopped for a lunch break having just crossed into Utah, the Mormon state, where alcohol and to***co are virtually banned but it’s legal to have 7 wives. I don’t think we will be in the state long enough for me to search out 6 legitimate women. This morning we have driven through some beautiful hills in Idaho and a really lovely road. We then came to a place called Soda Springs and went to the local hotel, which was straight out of the Wild West, we expected a gun fight to start at any moment, and it was still in the 18th century.
Now heading onto Wendover which is on the border of Utah and Nevada. Where we lose another hour on the UK.
Now in Wendover, we are in Utah (-7 hours from the UK) and the Nevada border is about 200 yards away (-8 hours from the UK). If we walk those 200 yards we can go to a casino, if we stay where we are we can’t even buy a beer, what a weird place. Hardly surprising, this side of town looks run down, whereas the other side is full of neon.
We got caught in a very heavy hail storm this afternoon, the hail stones were the size of large marbles. One of the guys we are supporting got into quite a panic about it all, whereas the others just brushed it off. We then stopped in a one horse place, with a bar and little else. The three locals in there, who looked like they had never moved couldn’t make out what was going on when five English and one Scottish guy walked in, I am sure they thought we were from Mars.
Tomorrow we will be going onto the salt flats where the land speed record was achieved and then onto Carson City in Nevada.
Day 9 – Thursday 6th August
Arrived into Carson City which is on the border of Nevada and California. The highlight of the day was going to the Bonneville Salt Flats this morning, which is where all the land speed record attempts have been made. It is a vast desert of compacted salt, stretching miles and miles in all directions. We took the pick-up truck onto them and had great fun driving across the flats. After a couple of hours on the flats we then returned to the nearest town to find a car wash as the pick-up and all the bikes were caked in salt.
We then set off on our journey across Nevada, crossing deserts, mountains, plains and scrub land for miles and miles. At some points you could see the road some 20+ miles ahead, but we knew it would be a long drive and were prepared for it.
Tomorrow we cross the Sierra Nevada Mountains and then drive across the central valley of California and will arrive in San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge, so we are really looking forward to reaching the city and spending time there.
Day 10 – Friday 7th August
Just a brief update now as arrived in San Francisco and want to go exploring. Highlights of the day include South Lake Tahoe and then a few moments later a large brown bear walked out onto the road in front of us. Drove on to San Francisco and stopped to view the Golden Gate Bridge, a great structure. Drove on into the city and now at our hotel and off to Fisherman’s Wharf for fresh lobster etc.
Day 11 – Saturday 8th August
A good evening in San Francisco, meal in Fisherman’s Wharf and a ride in a cable car. We all had breakfast in a genuine American diner this morning which was good. The plan was then to all drive down the crookest street in the world, however after about a mile we all got split up and in the end just one of the bikers and us arrived at the top of it. We drove down with about 100 people watching us, mostly Japanese!! We then set off for Highway One. After lunch we drove over to Bakersfield where the temperature is nearly 40 degrees. When we got to the hotel the bikers were all raving about the road from Highway One to Bakersfield. Tomorrow we head for Las Vegas via Death Valley which is one of the hottest places on earth!!
Day 12 – Sunday 9th August
Just arrived at the Monte Carlo hotel on the Strip in Las Vegas. Have driven across Death Valley today where the temperature outside according to the truck was 44 degrees or in US language 111! It is 200+ feet below sea level, but to get in and out of the valley you go over mountains and the road goes up to 5,000+ feet on either side. At the top of the pass the temperature was showing as 73 degrees and then half an hour later it had risen by 38!! We head down towards the Grand Canyon and Route 66 tomorrow, although we won’t actually get to the Canyon until Tuesday.
I won’t be gambling tonight, apart from a token $10, so I expect that I’ll be $10 poorer by this time tomorrow, but you can’t come here and not have a flutter.
We are now well over half way of our journey and are heading in an easterly direction for the next week or so, before we start to go north east back up to New York.
Off to the Strip now for a night on the town.
Day 13 – Monday 10th August
Only lost $5 in Las Vegas, also only gambled $5, so no worse off. Las Vegas is an amazing place and has to be seen to be believed. We walked quite a long way along The Strip and had a drink at the Venetian which is about as close to the canals of Venice as you can get.
Today has been quite an easy day as we have only travelled from Vegas down to Williams which is 60 miles south of the Grand Canyon. Tomorrow is a big day with the Canyon, Monument Valley, 4 Corners and a couple of big mountain passes into the Rockies.
After arriving at the hotel this evening we discovered a laundrette next door to it, so having washed our clothes in the basin for the past 10 days, we had the luxury of getting them cleaned and dry, without the hassle of hanging damp clothes all around our room.
When we left Vegas this morning the temperature in the truck was showing as 98 degrees at 10.00am, so I hate to think what it was going to rise to during the day. It’s a lot cooler here, so quite bearable for a change.
Been along part of the original Route 66 today, so have had the Rolling Stones accompany us as we drove along.
Day 14 – Tuesday 11th August
A long day and some great sights and some terrible weather conditions. Left early and got up to the Grand Canyon, but within ten minutes of arrival the heavens opened and the rain started, it then descended into thick cloud or fog or mist and you couldn’t see more than 100 yards. We then drove east along the rim, sometime in bright sunshine, sometimes in thick cloud and at others in heavy rain. We then entered the Painted Desert which leads into Monument Valley which is just awesome. Unfortunately the weather was against us at times and the rain was heavy, but it is amazing, real John Wayne countryside with these huge red sandstone rock stacks going 100’s of feet above the valley floor. We were in awe, it’s amazing. Next stop was 4 Corners where Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado all meet, what a rip off. You can queue up to get your photo taken while you spread yourself across the ground with an arm and a leg in each of the 4 four states. We then drove on and climbed up to 10,500 feet in the mountains through more torrential rain. We are now staying in Silverton in Colorado, which looks very pretty, but as the rain is torrential and it’s dark (we have regained an hour today on the UK, so are only -7 hours).
Day 15 – Wednesday 12th August
The most quirky hotel of all last night. The town of Silverton is lovely being 9,000 foot up surrounded by mountains and quaint little shops. We ate in a local restaurant and our waitress was very interested in hearing why we were all there.
This morning we left the hotel in bright sunshine and within 2 miles were climbing up to over 11,000 feet over a really impressive mountain pass, aptly named the Million Dollar Highway, the road was steep, had many hairpins bends and sheer drops on the right hand side for a long way down. It was fun driving it, but hard work as the views were just amazing. No sooner had we descended from that pass we then went up and over another and another. Colorado is beautiful, at least all around the Rockies. After a brief lunch stop part of the team went further north to ride up Pikes Peak which rises to over 14,000 feet. The rest of the guys and us decided to give it a miss and head straight onto La Junta were we are staying tonight. We drove for about 40 miles along a twisty but good road through a canyon, which was great, with more views, white water rapids and little traffic.
Le Junta looks like a giant railway siding for the Santa Fe railroad company, but as its 96 degrees outside I don’t think we will be wandering too far from the air conditioning this evening, although we will have to venture out to find a meal and a beer.
Day 16 – Thursday 13th August
We left Le Junta early this morning and as the hotel only had coffee and doughnuts available for breakfast decided to get some miles behind us before making a first stop and have brunch.
We stopped in a tiny place that had a Mexican café that was open and served all day breakfast. We then headed on to Dodge City, en route we crossed into Kansas and into the Central Time belt, so we are gradually getting back to the east coast.
Dodge City is famous as being one of the most lawless Wild West towns in the mid 1800’s. There is a museum there that provides quite a good insight into life during that period. Apparently as the gold rush started Dodge City became a major trading place, but as the native Indians lived all around it, people were constantly being attacked. The Government realised that if they got rid of all the wild buffalo then the Indians would lose their purpose of being in the Great Plains. So the instruction was sent out to kill all the wild buffalo, over 1 million were killed and the result was the Indians left and set up their own reservations. However the cowboys that killed all the buffalo then turned against one another and Dodge City became a modern day gang land. However within a few years law and order was returned and it became a major trading town on the east / west trails.
After Dodge City we had about 150 miles to our next stop Wichita, in Kansas. Kansas is full of huge cattle ranches and cornfields. We made it to Wichita and enjoyed a refreshing dip in the pool.
Tomorrow is the last big push on miles, as we cross Kansas, part of Oklahoma and into Arkansas, where we are staying in Little Rock, the home of the Clinton family.
Less than 2000 miles to go and another 7 days of travel.
Day 17 – Friday 14th August
Today, we drove through parts of Oklahoma and then into Arkansas to our hotel which is just to the north of Little Rock. The road was at least varied in that it wasn’t dead straight and had a few very small hills, but although everything around us was green there was little to view. We all ended up getting split up as well, so we spent most of the day without seeing anyone else from the party.
Tomorrow we go to Memphis and a visit to Gracelands and then onto Nashville where we are staying and looking forward to an evening in the capital of Country music.
Day 18 – Saturday 16th August
Last night we ordered pizzas and beer and sat in the lobby area, which made quite a change to most evenings. We totally over ordered on the pizzas, but as they only cost us $10 each it wasn’t too bad.
We left at 7.30am this morning and drove 130 miles to Gracelands, Elvis’s home. It costs $10 to park and then a further $45 per person to enter the place!! It all seemed a bit disorganized because although our tickets stated a tour time, it didn’t bear much resemblance to anything. Anyway we eventually got onto our tour and taken to Gracelands. Surprisingly the house isn’t that big at all, although it sits in ground that stretch quite an area. We walked around the house with an iPad as a guide and you get to see the main downstairs rooms and some of the outside parts and finally his grave which as you can imagine is a shrine to many people. It’s actually 36 years tomorrow that he died, 16/08/1979, so there were probably more tears being shed than normal. After leaving Gracelands we drove up to Nashville, where we now are and the plan is to go into the city later and find some food and listen to some country and western music.
All continues to go well and from here on we gradually start to bear in a more northerly direction in order to get us back to New York on Thursday morning.
Will report on tonight’s activities tomorrow.
Day 19 – Sunday 16th August
Correction, Elvis died on the 16th August 1977, not 1979 as I wrote yesterday, which was 22 year to the day before my daughter Alice was born, who’s 16th birthday was today.
If you ever get a chance to go to Nashville, take it. The city centre is a hive of activity with loads of musicians playing in the streets and all the bars and restaurants are alive with bands and people enjoying themselves. The main road is called Broadway and it’s packed with people and is a mini Strip from Las Vegas. We wandered around for a while and then found a Brazilian restaurant. Likewise if you have never been to a Brazilian for dinner and you like meat, go for it. Basically you help yourself to salads and then the waiters come round to the tables with an assortment of roasted meats and carve slices for you, they keep going until you beg them to stop, It’s a fixed price for the meal and I expect that on most people they make a handsome profit, not when Tim is around, as he took full advantage of the offer of more steak and more chicken and more lamp and ham and sirloin etc etc etc. It was a good meal. Afterwards most of us wandered up Broadway for a while and then got a taxi back to the hotel, however a couple of the guys stayed out till 2.00am enjoying the nightlife.
Today the bikers were going to ride a road called the ‘Tail of the Dragon’ so called for its 300+ bends in 11 miles - a bit of a motor biker’s heaven.
We stopped for a rest at a tiny little roadside café, we were the only customers there, but it provided us with an excellent sandwich and break. The owner told us that all the produce was fresh Amish, so I guess we must have been close to an Amish settlement although never saw any signs of it. Remember the film with Harrison Ford which I think was called ‘Silent Witness’ which was based around an Amish community.
We now only have 700+ miles to cover between now and Thursday lunchtime, so substantially less miles to cover each day and apparently some beautiful scenery to cover as we journey up through the Blue Mountains towards Washington DC.
During the course of today we crossed into the Eastern Time zone, so are now only 5 hours behind the UK. I find it quite strange how a state like Tennessee can manage when the time zone cuts right through the middle of it and there is an hour’s difference between one side of a town and another, a weird concept.
We are in Kingsport tonight and it looks like we have a restaurant across the road, so we won’t have to far to wander to find food and beer.
Day 20 – Monday 17th August
It was pizza and beer again last night in the hotel lobby, as the only local restaurant was what they call a ‘family restaurant’ which means a limited menu, no beer and last night was full of what appeared to be a bible group’s Sunday gathering, so we decided it wasn’t the place for us.
Today we have driven along part of the Blue Mountain Skyline drive, a beautiful; road that twists and turns around the mountains. Its average height is around 3,500 feet, so not particularly high compared to other places that we’ve been, but wonderful views every so often through the trees of the valleys below and the tree clad hills. We had intended to only do about 30 to 40 miles of the drive, but instead stayed on it and did nearly 100 miles, so quite a slow pace, but worth it.
We are now less than 500 miles from the journey’s end, but tomorrow we hit Washington DC and providing we get there in good time should be able to get into the city tomorrow afternoon / evening.
US TV is amazing, it is full of the presidential election news all the time. One of the candidates only has to sneeze for it to be headline news, yet the actual election is still 15 months away. From what we are seeing and hearing at the moment it’s a two horse race between Trump and Hilary. Goodness knows what will happen if he wins, it hardly bears thinking about, “shoot first then think” seems to be his way.
10 yards from our hotel room is the pool, so without further ado I’m off for a swim, as it reached 88 degrees earlier today, although it was cooler in the mountains.
Next update will be from DC, as it’s known.
Day 21 – Tuesday 18th August
Last night’s hotel was in an area with a number of other hotels and restaurants, intersected by a 4 lane road, but guess what there wasn’t a single pavement or sidewalk or pedestrian crossing, so to get anywhere on foot you had to take your life in your hands and cross the road. Anyway we all lived to tell the tale.
This morning I drove straight to our hotel in Arlington, which is 4 miles out of Washington DC. I was there by 11.00 and out again by 11.15. I walked to the nearest underground station and then went into the city centre. I did the While House, lunch, roof top view of the White House from the Hotel Washington, Washington Monument, WW11 memorial, Reflection Pool (Forest Gump), Vietnam Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King stone and JFK’s grave. I then returned to the hotel and now I am about to do the whole thing again with the rest of the guys as they have all arrived and are keen to ‘do Washington’. I think I should be a tour guide.
Time for a quick shower and then I’m off out in 45 minutes. Penultimate update tomorrow.
Day 23 – Wednesday 19th August
We all went into Washington last night. We went straight to the Hotel Washington which has an open balcony on the 7th floor that overlooks the White House and has reasonable views of the Monument and other sights. It was that busy that we couldn’t get a drink, but was worth the visit, then it was a quick walk to the front of probably the most famous address in the world. Andy asked a guy with Secret Service emblazoned across his chest for a photo, to which he duly agreed. We are not sure what was so secret about his role in life. Apparently if the Stars and Stripes is flying above the White House it doesn’t mean to say that the president is at home, i.e. similar to Buckingham Palace.
We then walked down to the World War II memorial which is impressive, from there to the foot of the Washington Monument and then onto the Metro for a trip to Chinatown. Don’t bother, it was a bit of a let-down and the meal we ate wasn’t very good, although if you like eating Jelly Fish and Watery crab soup it probably the best thing going.
The guys all enjoyed their trip to the capital city.
Today we visited Gettysburg, the site of one of the most decisive battles’ of the American Civil War in the 1860’s. It was very interesting and well-presented and I now know an awful lot more about the Civil War. Over 620,000 men were killed during the 4 years of it. Afterwards we had a mini golf challenge around a picturesque course, yours truly won!!!
We are now in Allenstown, about 100 miles west of New York and tomorrow have a short journey back to Newark so that the guys can drop their bikes off, then we all go our separate ways.
Right now the immediate challenge is to cross the highway and get to a Brazilian restaurant for supper, as yet again there is no obvious way to cross it, but where there’s a will there is a way.
Final chapter tomorrow evening
Day 24 - The Finale – Thursday 20th August
Last night we all managed to cross the highway and back, so enjoyed another Brazilian meal.
This morning we all left the hotel bright and early for the final 80 miles to the Freight distribution centre so that the guys could drop their bikes off for being shipped back to the UK, expected to arrive in about 4 weeks.
So that brought to an end our trip around the USA. Over the past three and half weeks we have stayed in 24 different hotels, for one night at each, we have driven over 8,000 miles and been to 23 different states, i.e. almost half of the states, excluding Alaska and Hawaii. We have been to 5 major cities, New York, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Nashville and Washington DC, visited 7 national parks, been at over 14,000 feet above sea level and been 250 below sea level. We have experienced hail stones in the desert, temperatures of 111 degrees, seeing a brown bear in the wild, stopped for speeding in Ohio, seen more corn fields than I ever want to see again, driven across the salt flats in Bonneville, and so it goes on. It has been an amazing experience and although we have only been able to spend a few hours in each place, it’s been an awesome trip.
