2018 August Road Trip

14 states, 5,616 Miles, 16 days. Without a doubt the longest continuous road trip of my life. And I want more! This highlights were San Juan in Colorado and the Black Hills in South Dakota! Both are the highest rated areas to ride a motorcycle in their respective states. I will be writing up reviews on both of them!

Nothing dramatic or out of the ordinary happened this trip. Lots of new places, lots of new sights. Colorado is even more beautiful in the Center. Lots to see. More to photograph.

Day 1: Aug 17th

I drove to Tennessee to see Tiny Brittany! A stop I often make on my way to Texas. I crash on her couch and it makes the trip much more bearable.

Day 2: Aug 18th

I did a shoot with her youngest, Emma. Beautiful as always!

Day 3: Aug 19th

I drove to see Frankie! I have not seen her in years. She has her own blog here about her ongoing fight with cancer. It was a blast catching up with her! Crashed in her guest bed.

Day 4: Aug 20th

Drove to Dallas to have lunch with mom. Drove to Austin to meet up with Randi. Crashed on her couch.

Day 5: Aug 21st

Drove to Corpus Christi with Randi and her new baby to do a shoot with her little sister, Dani. She loved the photos!

Day 6: Aug 22nd

Back to Austin! Randi and her boyfriend Will did a shoot with their new daughter, Emi. They turned out amazing!!

Day 7: Aug 23rd

Met up with Samantha and her friend, Nicole for a shoot at her father’s land!

I also got to see Danyel and meet her new boyfriend. I approve!!! She choose this awesome restaurant in Round Rock, Tx called “Mellow Mushroom”. It was rad!

Drove ½ way to Dallas and crashed in the back of my car at a rest stop.

Day 8: Aug 24th

Drove the rest of the way to Dallas to meet the A/C repair guy to fix my mom’s AC unit. I look the rest of the day to clean the house and edit photos.

Day 9: Aug 25th

Met up with Audrey and talked about photography sales stuff! Expanding my business. :). I miss you Audrey! I also decided it was car maintenance day. I got new brake rotors and pads installed. MUCH NEEDED! Look closely at the old rotor. My breaks feel much better. Gives me more confidence for all the mountains I have on my horizon!

Now, back to Austin for Gay Brittney’s BIRTHDAY party! Happy Birthday!!! I crashed in her and Madi’s guest room! THANKS!

Day 10: Aug 26th

LAZY DAY!!! I got 100% caught up on pictures and other photography business stuff.

Day 11: Aug 27th

I started my journey off to the west!

I made it as far as Albuquerque, New Mexico before stopping at a Flying J Truck Stop to sleep.

Day 12: Aug 28th

Drove the rest of the way to Arizona. Got my first Geocache in New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado.

Made it to Cortez, CO where I dropped the motorcycle off of the trailer and rode the #1 rated road in Colorado! I was very beautiful and I got to go into the highest Harley store at 9,318 ft above sea level in Durango, CO!!! So cool. I will have a separate write up on this ride with video of the highlights soon! I crashed in my car in the parking lot of the Walmart in Cortez, CO.

Day 13: Aug 29th

Started to head North East to Cheyenne, WY! The drive to there was amazing! I stopped several times including to have lunch and answer photography emails. When you drive 10+ hours a day, it is VERY hard to stay on top of emails. So I choose a little rest area that had a geocache and a view of mountains! Life is marvelous!

Crashed in a Love’s Truck Stop Parking Lot. First night in the car without needing the car to idle all night for A/C!

Day 14: Aug 30th

Woke up to a chilly morning and drove the rest of the way to Devils Tower to claim my first Wyoming Geocache. Devils Tower is VERY cool to see. Not much to do, but cool to see.

Drove the rest of the way to the Black Hills Area! I dropped the motorcycle at a Walmart Parking Lot in Rapid City, SD (close to Sturgis, SD) and found a car wash to give my bike a quick clean.

I quickly rode over to see Mount Rushmore before the evening show started. YES, there is a show!! Mount Rushmore was SOOO much better than I was told they would be. I guess they have been doing lots of construction on the site for some time and now it’s open and amazing! Huge amphitheater that does a presentation at night when they light up the mountain. I will definitely be back!

Man…. my collection has grown!!

Day 15: Aug 31st

Took the entire day to experience the Black Hills!! I will have a separate write up on this ride too! It was too much to take in for just one day, but I tried my best. I took the needle Highway and did a good size loop. Saw lots of tunnels and pine trees! I even saw a BUFFALO! Just grazing about 30 feet away! Custer State Park is my new favorite place and I was only there for 6 hours! It BEAT the Grand Teton National Park!!