"Zombie" Foot

Here is what my foot looked like yesterday. As you can see, I have some nice coloring and it looks even better today. I think it looks like a "zombie" foot and Charlie says if I start craving brains then we have a serious problem. He's a funny guy isn't he?
Luckily there isn't much pain but I am annoyed by the boot and the fact that I am so slow and can't do much. Hopefully I will continue to get some mobility back each day and I have to learn to be patient considering it hasn't even been broken a week.

Having fun with Das Boot

Charlie and I decided to have some fun with "Das Boot" (as I like to call it) and play some air guitar. As you can tell, we are not very good at it and will probably not win any air guitar awards in the near future.

Road Trip - Summary

During our road trip on the motorcycle we traveled 4,156 miles, visited 8 states, crossed the continental divide 7 times and had a blast even with breaking an ankle! I am not going to lie, it was hard being on a motorcycle for that long but it was definitely worth it. There is one thing I learned and that is you have to make the most of every moment and get out and try new things. The US had a lot to offer as far as road trips and I would highly recommend that you get out and go on a trip, even if is just within your state!

Next year the BMW Motorcycle Rally is in Pennsylvania and I think we may be in attendance again and this time we get to see the eastern part of the US. Happy Roadtripping to everyone!

Road Trip - Welcome to....

Here are all the Welcome To signs that we stopped by for pictures in the states that we traveled. The only 2 states we didn't get were Wyoming (because we didn't see signs in the way in or way out) and New Mexico (because it was raining and I was cold and getting a bit tired/crabby). I think I may write a letter to the state of Wyoming about their lack of signage and making visitors feel welcome!

Road Trip Day #11 - Video

Here is some video of us driving in the rain between Ouray and Silverton, CO. As you can tell, the roads are quite curvy which make for some awesome views although I was soaking wet!

Road Trip Day #11 - Heading home

Ok, so you are probably wondering what I am doing. Well, there is a town called Dinosaur, CO about 3 miles away and I am doing my best impression of a T-rex. I know, it is awesome and you wish you could do it as well as I can.

Saturday our goal was to make it back to ABQ so that we could have a full day of rest on Sunday before heading back to work. This meant that we needed to cover about 700 miles since we were a little bit further away because of my ankle incident. Let's just put it this way, my butt is sore and it was one of the longest days of my life.

We traveled some really beautiful roads with lots of twists and great scenery (which we will most likely be visiting again) but we also drove through about 1-2 hours of rain which made our last 3 hours of driving quite long. Charlie and I discovered that our pants that claim to be waterproof aren't exactly as they claim and we may have to buy some rain gear in the future.

We made it back around 11:30 pm and pretty much fell asleep upon hitting the bed. It was really good to be home and it our own beds!

Road Trip Day #10 - Nachos

I had to show you this picture because it is the biggest pile of nachos I have ever seen and it was delicious because between the 3 of us, we dominated it!

Road Trip Day #10 - Video

The Grand Tetons

While driving to Rock Springs, WY after Yellowstone and Grand Tetons (we passed a town called Cora, what an awesome little town!)

Road Trip Day #10 - Grand Tetons

Right outside of Yellowstone is the Grand Teton National Park which I thought was just beautiful! I would have loved to have more time exploring the area and doing some hikes but since it was already Friday, we were in a hurry to try and get further south to get closer to home.

Road Trip Day #10 - Yellowstone

Here are some pictures from Yellowstone. It was really fun to go to but it was also really crowded. We saw Old Faithful, which apparently is getting less faithful as time goes by. It used to erupt about every 30 minutes and now it erupts anywhere from 50-90 minutes so we had to wait awhile for it to explode.

If we go to Yellowstone again, which I am sure we will, I will probably spent time there camping and just exploring the parts that aren't so touristy and maybe get to see more wildlife. BTW, the last picture is of some elk we saw but you may not be able to see them very well. I would also go when I am not wearing a boot because I had 90 year old women passing me when I was walking because I am so slow. It was pretty funny!

Road Trip Day #10 - On our way to Yellowstone

Here are some pictures of our scenery while traveling through Montana to Yellowstone. It was very pretty.

Road Trip Day #8 - Video

Here is the video from the road we were on when we fell. You can see that the road gets pretty bad and you would have witnessed the fall too but we turned off the camera 1-2 minutes before it happened.

Road Trip Day #9 - Foot

My ankle is doing really well and hasn't been hurting too bad which is really great news considering I am riding a motorcycle all day. As you can see, my foot has swollen pretty good and now I have sausage toes. It is also getting more color and I am sure it will only get worse. It is quite interesting to me to watch it heal.

Road Trip Day #9 - Video

Here is some video from Idaho on our way to Montana. Enjoy!

Road Trip Day #9 - Idaho to Montana

Near Grangeville, ID

Clearwater River on Highway 12 in Idaho

Do you like my walking stick and boot? Sure is fun.

Made it to Montana at Lolo Pass

Randy really wanted pie and he got it.

On Highway 43 in Montana

Today we traveled from Grangeville, ID to Whitehall, MT which was about 350 miles. We had very scenic roads the entire way which made the trip very enjoyable. My foot also cooperated really well except right now my entire foot is swollen and my toes look really huge! Maybe some pictures tomorrow.

Road Trip Day #8 - The accident

The road that took us and Randy down. Stupid road.

Sorry the picture is blurry. It is from my cell phone but check out the swelling. It was kind of like a science project.

Giving a thumbs up to the box that did it.

At a Steakhouse after the ER for some much needed beer and food.

Randy's bent boxes from when he went down.

Randy had to zip tie the box on since it wouldn't latch anymore.

Charlie working on his bent box frame.

So, here's how it happened because I know you are all wondering. We wanted to go to a road called Magruder Corridor in Idaho but the GPS led us astray and we ended up on the road pictured above called Old Elk City Road (which when we told the nurse that she started apologizing). Because there were so many rocks, which Randy described as riding on cannon ball sized ball bearing, he ended up flying ahead of us and falling and then we followed shortly after.

We weren't going that fast, maybe 5 mph, but before I could react we were already on the ground and the side metal box landed on my ankle and twisted it breaking the bone and giving me a sprain. After screaming in pain for awhile from the initial shock, Charlie and Randy got me to the side of the road to rest and prop my foot while they picked up both bikes and thankfully neither of them was hurt. With their help, I hobbled to the end of the slope and they Charlie and Randy took me to the hospital where they told me I broke it and now I am in a walking boot for at least 4 weeks. I still plan on going forward with the rest of the trip, since it is only 3 days, and Charlie created a sling for me to put my leg in to keep it elevated. Isn't he great! We plan on taking it pretty easy and sticking to main roads with plenty of breaks so I will keep posting and updating you as much as I can. Just so you know, I have done nothing but laugh since the fall and because of it and I am still having a great time. I am interested to see the kind of looks we get while driving down the road.

On a side note: Randy had the most theatrical fall I have ever seen and it was so awesome. He flipped over the top of his handlebars and then did this really cool roll and basically just stood up. He is an all-star! I wish we had it on video for you to all see because you would be impressed.