Northern Transcontinental

Our new route spends the first day exploring the coastal region of Puget Sound on Whidbey Island. The next day we climb through the Cascade Mountains while crossing the rural roads of northern Washington. On the third day we visit Grand Coulee Dam. As we continue east we cross the rugged Rocky Mountains in Montana and the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming.

We have several active recovery days with shorter miles to see the sites along the way. In the Black Hills of South Dakota we spend a shorter day visiting Mount Rushmore. Our new route across Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan includes a rest day crossing Lake Michigan on the ferry boat. Then ride across Michigan to Ontario, Canada. Crossing Niagara Falls, New York, Vermont and finally Massachusetts! We have found that late summer is the best time of year for this tour because of the dry forecast. Expect warm temperatures in the mid 90s at this time of year.We have had many weather related adventures on this tour. In 1992 a hailstorm blew in after lunch on the Big Horn Mountains. Most of the riders had shed their coats at lunch. The temperature dropped from 80 degrees to 45 degrees in minutes. Hailstones covered the highland meadows like snow. An occasional passing motor home made ridable tire tracks through the marble size hail. Some riders walked and pushed their bikes for over an hour. Finally we descended into Sheridan, Wyoming. The sun came out. We were hot again. By the time we reached the motel the day of hail was just a bad memory.

One evening we were eating dinner at the "Little Chef" restaurant in Mitchell, SD. It was raining hard . The wind was howling. Suddenly, the lights went out. We wanted to leave and go back to the hotel, but the restaurant said the cash register lost power so they didn't have our bill. We overpaid them with a stack of $20 bills and ran back to the motel in the pouring rain. As the power came back the television announced a tornado sighting two miles west of Mitchell. Everyone congregated in the interior hallway. The power went out again and we sat in the dark listening to the wind roar. After 15 minutes the rain suddenly stopped. A great sunset lit up the sky again and we knew the tornado had decided to pass on by.

Don't be afraid. The weather isn't always that bad. The Northern Tour always adds more stories for veterans to tell. Every year is different because of the people, weather and even road conditions. We are looking forward to collecting a few more adventures on our cross-country tour!