Hello! Here are the pictures and story of my trip from Iowa City, IA to Pueblo, CO on my 2002 Honda Rebel in July 2003. Enjoy!

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Here I am all packed up and ready to go. The backpack is stuffed full of clothes and strapped on with a bungie net (poorly, I might add, finally got it decently adjusted after about 200 miles). My rain pants are on top of the backpack there for easy access. The LeatherLykes are full also. They contain: one pair of sandals, one pair of tennis shoes, all my toiletries, thick gloves for if it's cool in the mornings, rags, a chamois, fix-a-flat, flashlight, tire air guage, spare fuel line, electric tape, exacto knife, wire, chain lube, and rain-x (and, on the way back, a few fireworks I bought in Nebraska). I carried a small bag over my shoulder that held my maps, wallet, cell phone, disposable camera, eye drops, chapstick, sunblock, and my MP3 player that connected to the headphones in my helmet (need the tunes, man).

It's 8am Wednesday, the gas tank is full, the weather is sunny and 80 degrees, and the trip-o-meter is all zeros.... Here we go!

I left Iowa City on Hwy 1, down to Fairfield. Then I took Hwy 34 over to Ottumwa, and then Hwy 169 to Bloomfield. Then it was off to the west on Hwy 2 across southern Iowa. The weather was hot, with a good wind from the south that was doing its best to blow me around the road, felt like my neck was going to twist off.
     Somewhere around Leon it started raining so I stopped at the side of the road and put my rain pants on (note to self: unzipping the bottoms makes it easier to put rain pants over boots). It rained on and off from there, but it wasn't too bad. While it rained it was less windy, and the rain-x on my helmet faceshield worked great so I was having a fine time. Then I stopped in Clarinda for lunch. The temperature dropped from 81 to 68 degrees in the 30 minutes I was eating and letting the rain pass. But the rain was letting up and the clouds looked nicer so I started out again, thinking that the weather front had passed, headed south on Hwy 71. Then it really started raining! Rain's not the right word, more like biblical-caliber pouring.
     I took Hwy 71 into Missouri then west again on Hwy 136. For about 20 miles it was raining reallyreallyreally hard and there was nowhere to stop, and after a while my clothes got pretty wet, man I got soaked (note to self: get a rain coat, water gets through leather)! I was wearing a pair of sunglasses good for when it's cloudy, but they were getting so fogged up that I had to take them off. I didn't want to stop so I just threw them to the side of the road as I was riding! I have no idea why I didn't just stuff them in a pocket or down my jacket, I really liked those sunglasses too...bummer.
     The bad rain finally stopped just before I had to stop for gas, in Tarkin, MO. I changed my clothes while there, and went on my way. Dried off pretty well, I kept going and stopped for supper in Fairbury, NE. I was actually pretty chilled, shaking pretty hard while trying to eat my cheeseburgers. Looked at the map and decided I would stay the night in Belleville, KS about 45 miles away. Continued on Hwy 136 then turned south on Hwy 81, a nice 4-lane that took me into Belleville. The wind had turned to come from the north and the sun had come out, it was a beautiful late afternoon, and I felt great!

I stayed in the Super 8 in Belleville, KS, got there just before 7pm (11 hours after leaving Iowa City, and 444 miles - the rain made it a pretty long day). It's a really nice place to stay with the softest towels I've ever seen in a hotel. And a great continental breakfast with a waffle maker (and the owner makes the waffles for you). The only downer about the place is the hot tub was a little on the cool side. I was so tired that I was asleep by 9:30.

The pictures here were taken to show just how dirty my Rebel got after riding in all that rain. You can also see how I adjusted how the backpack was bungied down, can you see how the bungie net is pulling more forward? Now when I hit a bump the backpack either didn't move or even edged forward a bit, instead of bouncing back where it didn't work as a backrest very well!

So I got up the next morning (Thursday), enjoyed a waffle from the continental breakfast and got my stuff re-packed on the bike. Also lubed the chain. Left Belleville around 8am, and headed west on Hwy 36 in the cool of the morning.
     How fabulous!! The road was great and wide open with little traffic. The land just stretched out and if felt so great to be on a motorcycle and just cruising along. This was being alive. This was the reason I got a motorcycle in the first place. This was my vacation!!
     I continued Hwy 36 to Norton and got on Hwy 383 south, which kind of went southwest. It turned into Hwy 83 and then at Oakley I turned west on Hwy 40. The only problem I was having this day was the wind had turned to come from the west, so I was headed right into it. The speed limit was 65mph, and I kept the Rebel wide open most of the time just to keep a little over the speed limit, and get up the hills.
     I finally stopped for lunch at a place called Stephen's Restaurant in Sharon Springs, KS not too far from the Colorado border. A nice diner that was pretty busy and had good pork tenderloins. Worth stopping at if you're in the area.

Finally made it to Colorado!! Woo hoo!!

Drove the rest of the way to Pueblo with a grand smile on my face, so excited to be in Colorado for the first time in a couple years. Kept on Hwy 40 to Kit Carson, then south on Hwy 287 to Eads, and then west on Hwy 96 all the way in to Pueblo. Got to my dad's house at 4:30, 9 and 1/2 hours after leaving the hotel in Kansas. The trip-o-meter says 892.7 miles, and I averaged 62 miles per gallon.

So I spent that night catching up with the family and playing with my two little sisters, ages 7 and 8. And I slept like a rock!
     The next day, Friday, was pretty low-key. Slept in late, ate lunch with Dad, and then caught some sun in the backyard. Got some crazy sunburn! Amazing how being 4000 feet closer to the sun can make so much of a difference, the SPF 15 just didn't do it for me. Had to use my SPF 70 the rest of the trip.
     Saturday we went up to Denver. My dad was racing that weekend, and Saturday is practice day so that's what he did. I went to the Denver Zoo with the rest of the family. It was really hot and we were so tired after being there just a few hours. I took some pictures of a few pretty cool birds, but they didn't turn out very well, can't see the colors. We stayed with my uncle that night, Dad got sunburned bad at the track having forgot his sunblock, he looked like a lobster.

Sunday race day!! It's always to exciting to watch Dad race. He races with the local MRA chapter, they have ten races this year, and this one was number four. Unfortunately at the first race Dad had some oil trouble so this is the first race he's been to since because he had to redo some stuff on the bike - so much for going for championship points this year....
     His motorcycle is a CRM900 (CRM = Comstock Racing Machine). He built the bike almost entirely from scratch. The motor is a Norton, but he made that too from a billet of aluminum. He got 2nd place in Supertwins and 6th place in Lightweight GP.

Monday was spent getting the Rebel ready for the trip back to Iowa City. I slept in late of course, but then went to my Dad's automotive shop and worked on the bike. Changed the oil, checked the tires, lubed the chain, and washed her down good (scrubbed off all the bugs so a new layer could go on). Also finally got a new bolt to hold that pesky rear turn signal on so it didn't have to be taped anymore! Ate lunch with Dad, and spent the afternoon just chillin' and calling my boyfriend to tell him how things were going and that I was headed home the next day. My youngest sister was so cute because she gave me a sticker she had gotten at the race and said, "Just don't forget me." How cute is that?

This pictures tries to show what happens when you change the oil without letting the exhaust pipes cool off first. Ouch!

Monday morning. Time to head back home. After giving the family hugs and kisses and saying goodbye I was off, in the same direction I had come from. The morning was cool but comfortable, and very little wind. It was perfect. But the farther west I got the more south wind there was, plaguing me again with a hefty side wind. It wasn't too bad, I only got one gust that really pushed the Rebel across the lane. But it was tiring trying to keep my head twisted the right direction.
     Stopped for lunch at Steven's Restaurant again, enjoying the air conditioning as it was starting to get pretty hot outside. Got back on the road and as I was going north on Hwy 383 I ran into road construction. Now, I had been through road construction before and it was no big deal, but this was a long one-lane area where if it wasn't your turn to go you were parked and waiting. So I turn the bike off and get up, stretch out the legs a bit. When I was fianlly our turn I thought I was going to get baked! They were repaving one of the lanes, but they were actually being efficient and taking off the old road and putting down new blacktop right behind it, a train of six trucks or so. But the first trucks that were tearing up the road had fire underneath them! So there was fire and very hot air and some smoke coming out that I had to ride through. Yipes! It was HOT HOT HOT and kinda scary! And I was already hot, I'm glad the construction was just outside of a small town that I was planning on stopping at for gas. I needed the break, and a bottle of water, and an ice cream sandwich (yum). :-)

So I kept on riding, up to Alma, NE and then across southern Nebraska on Hwy 136. I tried to find the sign about the Geographical Center of the Continental United States, but I couldn't find it (it's supposed to be just south of the NE/KS border on Hwy 281 - maybe I didn't go far enough). But I got pictures of being at the Nebraska and Kansas borders to add to the collection, and then finally stopped for the night in Fairbury, NE at the Capri Motel. It's just a little roadside hotel, but cheap and decent. There was a fireworks stand there, and I bought a few small items even though they're all illegal in Iowa (hee hee).

Got up late the next morning. Wanted to leave at 8am as usual, but I was so tired after the previous day of riding that I slept in a bit. Got on the road about 9am after packing the bike back up and lubing the chain again. Decided to get breakfast later since I was running late and had to get gas soon anyway.
     Continued west on Hwy 136, the same route as I had taken the other way, but this time the weather was much nicer (no pouring rain). Took Hwy 71 north all the way to Hwy 92, then headed west across Iowa. I used to live in Greenfield so stopped there at a nice little diner for lunch, then headed on out.
     By this time all I wanted was to be home, so I was driving pretty fast, ~70mph. But Hwy 92 is hilly and I kept getting stuck behind those slow people that make Iowa so special.

Ahh, finally home. My feet were still buzzing, and my tailbone was a bit sore, but how nice it was to be home! It really was a fabulous ride, and I'm sure I'll do it again - I'm hooked!
     Final mileage, 1798 on the trip-o-meter. Not sure about the gas mileage, but I think it was better than the way out, probably around 68mpg. In this last picture you can see how I started strapping on the "tank bag." It's the bag I had slung over my shoulder but got sick of it being there so just slipped the strap around the handlebars and the bag sat there nicely, except the side wind was trying to blow it over but it stayed the whole time. I need to get a magnet to attach to that bag, since I did originally get that bag to be a tank bag....

Hope you all have enjoyed my pictures and the narrative along with it. Be happy everyone, and ride safe. And please wear a helmet!!

Jess