God Bless America Tour

Have you ever wanted to get away from it all? Well, the God Bless America Grand Tour (GBA) could have been just the thing for you. In 2004, the GBA Tour was sponsored by the now inactive Arkansas Regional Voyagers (ARV) and the object was to visit one county that starts with each letter in GOD BLESS AMERICA. The winner was the rider whose sum total of the county populations was the lowest. Over the years, the ARV has sponsored a motorcycle Grand Tour each year with the proceeds going toward pediatric cancer at the University of Oklahoma Medical Services Center.

The final numbers were tallied and I received fourth place. But the real surprise was that the ARV selected my photo of Esmeralda County as "The Most Unusual" photo.

Listed below I have a random sampling of some of my county photos, and some of the sights along the way this year. Take a close look. You'll see that these are great places to "get away from it all"!!

This is such a wonderful county and I get visitors stopping by from all over the world. If you are visiting from outside the US, please drop me a note from the Feedback Page on whether you thought this represented your idea of America or not.

	Alpine County, California The Sierra-Nevada Mountains are beautiful in the spring time. The Donner Party had their last meal a short distance from here.		Alpine County, California
	Arthur County, Nebraska I think I know someone who grew up here. Do you know who it is?		Cook County, Minnesota I traveled up to Cook County because the cameras malfunctioned in Carter County, Montana.
	Daggett County, Utah		Devil's Tower Natural Monument Northeast corner of Wyoming
	Iron County, Wisconsin Iron County is the third lowest "I" county in the country! Right here in Wisconsin, wow.		Esmeralda County, Nevada The wind blew particularly hard this day. By the way, this county was on the edge of Area 51. See elsewhere on this website my photos of the Extraterrestrial Highway and the Little Ale'Inn.
	Frost on the bike I regularly battled cold and rainy weather. This particular morning I just wheeled the bike out into the rising sun and went back to bed for an hour.		Frost on the bike
	Frost on the bike		Adams County, North Dakota The cold and the plains will drive a person mad.
	Fillin' Up With gas stations 100 miles apart, I found myself getting gas whenever it was available. In Panaca, Nevada, I met a Nevada Park Service Ranger who gave me the lowdown on the Great Basin and hunting fossils in Nevada.		Looking Back Here's a look back at the town of Panaca, Nevada. Over the distant mountain range and then another 60 miles lies Cedar City, Utah.
	Sioux County, Nebraska Screwing around at the photo stops keeps one from getting prairie grass on the brain. Obviously I need to screw around more.		Logan County, Nebraska
	McPherson County, Nebraska		Where the cattle roam
	Green Acres Someone used to call this home!		Oliver County, South Dakota The temperature in April was in the upper 30's in the morning. But, it warmed into the upper 40's by mid day.
	Somewhere in Nebraska		Prudence Cockpit This is the view I have when piloting the bike. Prudence did a fine job of getting me out to California and back again, and through sun, wind, rain, and snow.
	Cook County, Minnesota The last county visited.		Sheridan County, North Dakota This is a fine place to get away from it all. As you can see, there are miles and miles of empty space. Not much to see unless you're a prairie grass expert.
	Bonneville Salt Flats Wendover, Utah		Bonneville Salt Flats Wendover, Utah
	Bonneville Salt Flats Wendover, Utah		Bonneville Salt Flats This view is across the salt flats. The lake is actually about 3 or 4 inches of very salty water spread out across a large area. The wind blows the brine around the lake until the sun evaporates the water. When the water is gone, a very flat, hard crust of salt is left behind.

08/29/08

My GBA Grand Tour Photo Gallery