so....what an adventure this trip was. I can certainly cross this one off the bucket list, even if I was not as successful as anticipated. I'm calling this my "4 Seasons Ride". I saw sunny 80+ degree days, rain, thunder/lightening, hail, and even snow! My goal was to do an I40E2E with a nested BBG and then to do a 50CC on the way back. Once I hit the snow/cold in Flagstaff, I decided to call it.
I had a good first leg making it from Wilmington NC to Shamrock TX in about 22 1/2 hours. that was a 1500 mile leg. weather was decent until I started getting closer to Little Rock AR. I started seeing lightening first, then rain that lasted until I got to about Fort Smith AR. Through Oklahoma I had some dense fog through the night until I arrived in Shamrock around 6 AM local time.
After about 6 hours of sleep, I continued west through NM and AZ. The winds were absolutely terrible, blowing the big old GW all over the roads. that lasted throughout the evening until late that night when I got to Flagstaff. That's when the real fun hit. 7000 feet elevation, 20 degree weather and SNOW! it was so heavy, I couldn't see the road even at 45 MPH. That's when I decided to bail on the plan to make I-40 end-to-end in 50 hours. I pulled in an exit and found a hotel.
The next day I decided to head down to Phoenix where it was warmer and then on across to San Diego. Within an hour of riding down the mountain I was at 3000 feet, a bit warmer, and in much better shape. I eventually made it to SD in 60 hours. Still not too bad for riding from one coast to the other.
I got a good night's sleep in SD (and a good seafood meal too) and started fresh in the morning to head back east. I was surprised at the elevations through southern NM and western TX. at 2500 to 4000 feet it was just chilly enough for me to get tired of dealing with it and wishing the elevation would drop. It eventually did...by the time I got close to San Antonio. it was there that I was seeing more lightening on the horizon. I checked radar and it showed very bad storms coming up from the south between SA all the way to Houston, where I intended to stop for the night. I was trying to make 1500 miles in this first leg, but since I was at about 1200, which was half way, I decided to stop short. that worked out well since it was clear by the morning when I got ready to go again.
The clearness was short lived though. I made it through Houston, but while heading toward Beaumont and then east into Louisiana, the clouds opened up with some pretty heavy rain. the only positive was it was daytime and a bit easier to deal with in the light. @JerryHawk....I did not see you beside the highway to wave to me. I passed though about 9 PM, earlier than I had expected. I assume you just didn't get there that early, right?
I finally broke out of the rain as I continued on east through Alabama and the only other problem I ran into a was lot of fog riding across the FL panhandle. It was almost as bad as the fog in OK. I ended up making it to Jacksonville Beach in about 44 hours.
All total, it was about 5700 miles in less than 8 days. The sights and sounds were amazing. I was attacked by a tumbleweed passing through NM. The high plains through NM and AZ were COLD!
My BBG leg on the way out: https://new.spotwalla.com/trip/1dcd-722b17b-9b42/view
My CC50 trip back east: https://new.spotwalla.com/trip/d13d-1f97d50b-0fb6/view
I had a good first leg making it from Wilmington NC to Shamrock TX in about 22 1/2 hours. that was a 1500 mile leg. weather was decent until I started getting closer to Little Rock AR. I started seeing lightening first, then rain that lasted until I got to about Fort Smith AR. Through Oklahoma I had some dense fog through the night until I arrived in Shamrock around 6 AM local time.
After about 6 hours of sleep, I continued west through NM and AZ. The winds were absolutely terrible, blowing the big old GW all over the roads. that lasted throughout the evening until late that night when I got to Flagstaff. That's when the real fun hit. 7000 feet elevation, 20 degree weather and SNOW! it was so heavy, I couldn't see the road even at 45 MPH. That's when I decided to bail on the plan to make I-40 end-to-end in 50 hours. I pulled in an exit and found a hotel.
The next day I decided to head down to Phoenix where it was warmer and then on across to San Diego. Within an hour of riding down the mountain I was at 3000 feet, a bit warmer, and in much better shape. I eventually made it to SD in 60 hours. Still not too bad for riding from one coast to the other.
I got a good night's sleep in SD (and a good seafood meal too) and started fresh in the morning to head back east. I was surprised at the elevations through southern NM and western TX. at 2500 to 4000 feet it was just chilly enough for me to get tired of dealing with it and wishing the elevation would drop. It eventually did...by the time I got close to San Antonio. it was there that I was seeing more lightening on the horizon. I checked radar and it showed very bad storms coming up from the south between SA all the way to Houston, where I intended to stop for the night. I was trying to make 1500 miles in this first leg, but since I was at about 1200, which was half way, I decided to stop short. that worked out well since it was clear by the morning when I got ready to go again.
The clearness was short lived though. I made it through Houston, but while heading toward Beaumont and then east into Louisiana, the clouds opened up with some pretty heavy rain. the only positive was it was daytime and a bit easier to deal with in the light. @JerryHawk....I did not see you beside the highway to wave to me. I passed though about 9 PM, earlier than I had expected. I assume you just didn't get there that early, right?
I finally broke out of the rain as I continued on east through Alabama and the only other problem I ran into a was lot of fog riding across the FL panhandle. It was almost as bad as the fog in OK. I ended up making it to Jacksonville Beach in about 44 hours.
All total, it was about 5700 miles in less than 8 days. The sights and sounds were amazing. I was attacked by a tumbleweed passing through NM. The high plains through NM and AZ were COLD!
My BBG leg on the way out: https://new.spotwalla.com/trip/1dcd-722b17b-9b42/view
My CC50 trip back east: https://new.spotwalla.com/trip/d13d-1f97d50b-0fb6/view
