East on 40 out of Steamboat, over Rabbit Ears Pass, and route 14, an hour to Walden, CO, remote. Went over Cameron Pass (10,276'), and down along the river: Cache La Poudre, and the Fort Collins area; route 14 stretched out over the plains for a hundred miles to the next real town. We watched a threatening dark to the east, dead ahead, loom, darken, and splatter us with big drops, just as we pulled into Sterling. Refuge in a gas station, then a nearby Wal-Mart. When we got a motel room, there were warning signs at the desk about high nitrates in the water. Warning signs at the hotel desk. The girl there said it was from fertilizer seeping into the ground water. Another girl warned us about the uranium from the mines. They all had a nice glow. Chernobyl Glow. We watched the weather channel and it didn't look good: half-dollar sized hail was falling nearby. So we drank beer.
Interstate 76 in Colorado runs smack into Interstate 80. 80 on 80, through Nebraska, running from the rain we lost an hour: Central Time. Crossed into Iowa for some hot stop and go rush hour traffic in Omaha. We wanted to spend the night in Des Moines, but we got the word that the state fair was there, and rooms would be rare and expensive. So we opted to get away from the Interstate, and go to the Super 8 in Atlantic, Iowa, right next to a steakhouse. Iowa beef is the best! After dinner, we wandered across the highway to Wal-Mart, yes Wal-Mart. Two days in a row! We bought a bottle of cheap Wal-Mart gin and headed back to the room.
We were outrunning the rain, when somewhere in Iowa, Rose's spare eyeglasses, flew out of the bag. We saw the open zipper in the gas station. Ah-ha! So that was why those truckers were honking! We crossed the Mississippi River into Illinois, and later, left-laned it through the south end of Chicago, from Joliet to Gary. Lost an hour in Indiana and got off the turnpike at exit 13 in Ohio: Montpelier. Exit Thirteen. There was a NASCAR party going on at the Ramada. For each drink you bought, you got a door prize ticket. We had a lot of tickets and won most of the prizes. We wound up giving them all away to our new friends.
The Ohio Turnpike: Sunday drivers take over the road with van loads of nose pickers heading for Sandusky, and truckers try to pass each other going 1 mph faster. And when the two lanes close down to one, the truckers form a rolling blockade in western Pennsylvania, at two mph, creating a stop and go backup, and forcing me, with my air-cooled engine, to split lanes, and they try to squeeze me, and fuck you, I go between them. It was a little tight, and kind of scary. So when I blasted between the semis, I jammed, I put the hammer down 90 mph, and then some, open road, wide fucken open…So I was real glad to get off I 80. Them truckers must have got on the radio, because when I was in the gas station, filling my tank, a state trooper pulled in, got out of his car, looked me over, shook his head, and got back in and drove away. He shook his head. I was filling my tank, chatting to some girl, giving out stickers. Pennsylvania route 66, and heading north through the Allegheny National Forest, we picked up route 6, east, in Kane. It being Sunday, we stopped for a burger and some brews, at a place with a parking lot full of bikes, all with traveling bags strapped on. Lots of folks there traveling on the road from NJ, WV, OH, PA, and more. Good burgers, good folks, good prices. The name of the place was Lantz Corners Getaway, and they even have rooms if you want to spend the night. But it was still early, so we rode east on 6, another two hours, and got a room in Wellsboro, where we found another biker bar, cheap beer, and a pool table.
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