Motorcycle Trip Out West 10 Years Later, Day 1

My first trip "Out West" was almost exactly a decade ago.  A lot has changed in those 10 years, but more has not.  Ten years ago it was on a Harley Davidson Electraglide.  I probably like the Goldwing a little more, but the difference is small relative to the fact that I'm still bumping around the country on two wheels, even going through some of the same places.
There was a lot more planning then for these kinds of trips back then.  I recall an excited nervousness in preparing in 2004.  I probably look forward to the trips more now, but not with the same level of anticipation.  Until a few days ago, work was still dominating the synapses.
Ten years ago we went through Independence Pass.  I haven't been back there yet, but I'm sure I'll wander in that direction again.

On the way home, the Electraglide chugged through Flaming Gorge - which has to be one of the most underrated parks I've ever seen.  2004 was a dry year and the water level was low, making the pictures unbelievably amazing.  I did have to park in a rather precarious spot to get this picture though.

Work started at the normal time today.  I was hoping to work from home but a few obligations made that impractical.  Early in the day, with two meetings to go, I was already at a stopping point.
My last conference call was about a half hour longer than it was scheduled for and the mundane topics were such that I really didn't need to be involved, but I stayed on.  As we were getting ready to end, the power went out in the building.  This brought an abrupt and fortuitous end to the call.  Thank you power company (or whomever).  I took it as a sign to leave.  But, there was one problem.
The power outage occurred before I could finish sending a last few emails and make sure out of office notifications were on.  After walking around the building hoping the outage left a WiFi node unaffected, I hotspotted my phone which allowed me to finish the few must-dos before I left.  I was out the door before noon.
Time to put work out of mind for a while.  To begin, the Cremation of Care.

Back at home I finished packing and put the dogs into beagle jail.  Then had to wait until the SO got home to leave for real.  We were on the road by 4:00
Weaving spiders come not here.

170.7 Miles

The first short leg was two lane until I got on I-74.  I-74 up to and through Indianapolis was a zoo, but as usually happens, west of Indianapolis, the interstate opened up and it was a quick couple hours more to the Danville Super 8.  The only issue was the power cord for the GPS kept popping out which was more than a little annoying.  Once at the hotel, I wedged a small piece of paper into the power plug to (hopefully) hold it in place.

Dinner was adequate but inexpensive at Big Boy followed by Zebra Cakes in the hotel room.

Vacation has started.