Category: 2022 RHG – Mother Road Tour

Mother Road Tour 2022 – Part 1 Weeks 1-3 [New Hampshire, Rt 66 to Las Vegas]

Mother Road Tour 2022 – Part 1 @ Weeks 1-3   [New Hampshire, Rt 66 to Las Vegas]

The small print . . .  as Buddy will explain in the first and last posts, I am a still imager photographer that occasionally puts my face and voice to a video.    As such these four posts are “silent films” of the sights of this epic adventure.   Add to those images a “background” of elevator music.

Perhaps someday, I will evolve into the talking head.   But I really don’t have that much to say that can over-ride the images of the adventure.    In the end,  my early years of zone system photography at the now defunct Art Institute of Boston remains in grained in me.    Too many years of being in a dark room with the smell of silver bromide and the phosphorescent glow of the GraLab analog timer in the background.

Now for the introduction . . .  in July of this year [2022],   I headed out on the road with Craig Ripley,  Living Off The Slab.   Craig had invited me to join him on an epic cross country motorcycle ride.    The ride would start in New England and travel to the Pacific Ocean and back to our homes in New England.   It would be the longest motorcycle road trip of my life.   It was an epic opportunity for which I will be eternally grateful to Craig.

I didn’t do as much photography on this trip as I typically do and I clearly fell short on providing adequate narrative support.   But, I have decided to put together four (4) video posts to document this epic road trip.

The first Part will be New England to Las Vegas.    The second Part will be the Utah National Parks – this is the section where Cheryl and Cathy would join us!   And the last Part will be the journey home.   Unfortunately, I would have to leave the trip early and head home.    As I made my bee-line trip home,  Craig would remain on course and complete the trip that he had planned.

The first video will be released Sunday – 5 February 2023.    And then one each Sunday for the next three weeks.

Thanks for watching . . .!!

 

Day 46 – Lassen Volcanic National Park

On this day we left Reno, NV and headed to Lassen Volcanic National Park.

“Lassen Volcanic National Park, located in northeastern California, is part of the National Park Service, within the Department of the Interior. The over 100,000- acre park is situated 130 miles north of Sacramento at the southern end of the Cascade Mountain Range. Established in 1916, Lassen Volcanic is the fifteenth national park established by Congress, making it one of the oldest in the nation. In 2016, Lassen Volcanic marked its 100th anniversary with over 500,000 visitors coming to see the steaming fumaroles, meadows freckled with wildflowers, clear mountain lakes, and numerous volcanoes. Lassen Volcanic offers opportunities to discover the wonder and mysteries of volcanoes and hot water for visitors willing to explore the undiscovered. Imagine walking on a boardwalk alongside bubbling pits of mud and hissing cracks in the earth. Steam rises from boiling pools and moistens your skin, and the smell of sulfur fills the air.’”  [Source: NPS.gov]

That being said, the devastation of the 2021 Dixie Fire could be seen for many miles before we got even close to the park.   While we have all seen these types of images on television (as they cover these devastating fires) – to be there and drive through is immersive reality and over-whelming.    We drove by many burnt out buildings, vehicles and even firefighting equipment that were caught up in the fire and like the natural resources … they too were destroyed.    Burnt vehicles stacked in rows like hay bales, the rubble of the building pushed into piles, emergency operations camps along the road

In the gorges you could see what “scorched earth” looks like.   The views were amazing …. until you realize that there was forest there before.    Miles upon miles we saw the work continuing to clear around the roads and replace infrastructure.   The smell of the aftermath of fire remains in the air.

While we did not get to see a lot of the volcanic features …. we clearly got an education of the impact these fires have on the forest and eco systems.   Impacts that will be with future generations far beyond my shelf life.

 

Day 50 – Bonneville Salt Flats

The ride from Eureka, NV brought us to the Bonneville Salt Flats on our way to Salt Lake City, UT.    As good luck would have it, there were “test and tune events” going on in preparation for the fall World of Speed races (Sept 7-12, 2022).

We have a “local day” tomorrow in Salt Lake City, UT.    We will then be heading to Wyoming and Montana in the days after.

 

Day 49 – The Loneliest Road In America

Today we Traveled from Fernley, NV to Eureka, NV via Rt 50 also know as the  “the loneliest road in America”,      We traveled over 200 miles on this unique road.   Stopping once at a small restaurant in the middle of the desert.

Today’s posts are mainly from Eureka, NV.    A former mining town that bills itself as “The Friendliest Town on the Loneliest Road”  [source:  Eureka, Nevada | Eureka NV Hotels | Things to Do in Eureka (travelnevada.com)]

Tomorrow, we head to Salt Lake City, UT.   This will be the first time in several weeks that we will no longer be on pacific standard time.     Good sign we are headed towards the east after nearly 50 days on the road.

 

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