Beartooth Pass here we come

Tues June 30.09

Leaving Cody behind us, we headed northwest on the Chief Joseph Scenic Hwy towards Beartooth pass. Another day of incredible views of vast valleys, lush meadows, rock crags, canyons, majestic snow capped mountains .....very humbling .

Its difficult to describe the overwhelming----sensations you experience on a bike trip like this. Every sense is alerted with the smells of the pine and evergreen forest, the subtle changes in temperature, the cool fresh breeze,the 360 degree view of the mountains. You become part of the experience...much better than looking through the side window of a minivan..LOL.

We reached the west summit of Beartooth Pass after noon and before the rain hit. On our way back we stopped at a crystal mountain lake for our 2009 signature picture.



Heading back down the mountain we encountered an amazing waterfall...screech....get the camera Bren.



Early end to the day in Cooke City, Montana as it is the last stop before Yellowstone Park tomorrow to see Yogi and Boo Boo bear. Fortunately for us it was happy hour at the Miner Saloon with beer for $1.00 and the best pizza we have ever had.

Monday's Blog

Another scenic drive west from Sheridan to Cody, up and over Big Horn Montain range -elevation 8450 with snow capped peaks. Stumbled across Shell Falls, a beautiful waterfall tumbling 120 ft down into Shell Creek, which wound its way alongside the road to the bottom of the canyon.



Travelling through the canyon was akin to what one would expect to see driving to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Dramatic rock cuts winding through canyons to a mountain fed river. Heading towards Cody we happened onto the hamlet of Shell, population of 50!!!! Other than the post office and gas station, the local watering hole boasting beer and burgers was...closed cause it was Monday.



So what else is a hot thirsty biker with a trailer full of cold beer to do, but make themselves at home on the patio. Out came the peanuts...on came the tunes...and down went the beer! After enjoying the lovely sun filled afternoon, the owner came out, smiling and telling us to "tear it up"



Only in small town USA!

On into Cody we finaly found a place to stay and headed to Irma's saloon, the historical hotel built by Buffalo BILL Cody in 1903 during the height of his wild west show. Cody is still the host of these wild west shows nightly.



Off to the Cody Nites Rodeo with event riders coming from all over the Us. What a blast...the best part of the rodeo was watching the young kids compete. Unfortunately we are missing the annual PRCA rodeo Juky 1-5th. Maybe next time.



Back to the motel for outside patio party and foolishness.

Sun June 28.09

What day is it anyway?? Oh ya, we're on vacation.

Headed west from Custer SD along a twisty road with lots of tight switchbacks, beautiful scenery on a warm cloudless day. Prefect bike day. I can see why they refer to this area...Montana and Wyoming as big sky country. Forgot to mention the overly friendly donkies that were in Custer State Park...they worked the vacationers like hookers on the street corner. Stopping every car, sticking their heads in the cars looking for treats.

Looking over the rough terrain you have visions/holograms of the pioneers, the hardships they endured, bumping along in their covered wagons with the red clay stuck to the wheels, like in a James Lumbers print.

We saw remnants of a massive devastating forest fire...miles and miles, acres upon acres of charred trees. So sad.

Interesting there is a yellow wild flower/weed in full blossom coverng the hills, that has been here since we arrived in Rapid City. It has the sweetest scent..like honeysuckle that has made Teds allergies not happy. One morning when the boys got up to give their babies their morning bath, the bikes were covered in a fine yellow dust.

We saw trains carrying car loads of coal, rolling hills dotted with black angus, small oil rigs bobbing up and down, lots of small deer. Beautiful rugged landscape.

Drove past Devils Tower, US's first national monument.

Dave brought it to our attention that is was 2pm and time to stop for our after noon beer. Found a neat old bar in Hulett Wy and sat out side swapping stories with the locals picking up travel tips.

Continued through more barren terrain to Sheridan Wy to find a great motel with a huge room and a rib dinner...again

Todays ride was a trip down memory lane for the boys and they delighted in finally sharing the highlights from their "virginal" sixwestcoater trip. Leaving Deadwood our first stop of the day was to the notorous "Moon shine gultch" saloon. Unbelievable...like stepping back in time. The ontario health department would have a bird if they ever tried to do an inspection there. the ceinig is covered with hats. t-shirts and business cards from previous patrons. We had beers, and Dave finally got to go to the bathroom. When we were leaving, a bit of a crowd and kinda felt bad leaving.


Took off east toward Hill City, and got thoroughly dusted on the dirt roads. Stopped in Hill City and checked out a really good sculpture exhibition. See the horse?

From there it was Crazy Horse, then Mount Rushmore, then Needles Highway, then Custer State Park. As soon as we turned into the park there were a dozen bison beside the road.



Carol couldn't get the camera turned on in time, and Brenda was too busy shitting herself to get a picture. (These girls are fired.) But the tours were thoroughly enjoyed. The ladies said it was great to finally see what the boys had been raving about for the past two years.

Dinner was steak at the Dark Horse Saloon in Custer, SD. Probably one of the best steaks we've ever had. Now just sitting outside our rooms at the Rocket Motel getting pleasantly lubricated and looking forward to everything being new from this point on. Nighty-night!

Ladies first full day

Friday, June 26/09
Men out of bed at 6:00 to a cloudy sky, ladies out of bed at 8:00. Deceided to spend the morning walking and shopping in downtown Sturgis, t-shirts, leather etc. Back to One Eyed Jacks for a quick beer, then on to Deadwood. Sky was black and menacing, but we pushed on thinking we'd beat the rain. NOT. The further we went, the harder it came down. Got into Deadwood and a van pulled between us, engulfing Ted and Carol in a tsunami-like wave. They completely disappeared from sight, only to emerge looking like drowned rats. We quickly pulled into a covered gas station for damage control. Dave couldnt stop laughinng!!! Didn't appear too bad initially other than wet clothers and hair, but later, when everything dried, the bike and trailer was plastered with mud and road grime. Off to the car wash for Ted the next morning!

Deadwood was a pleasant surprise - vintage old west with saloons, original builidings and cobblestone streets. Most shops hosted gambling - slots and tables, yet they did not seem very busy until much later that evening. Numerous old west re-enactments take place along Main Street periodically throughout the day. Stayed at the historic Franklin Hotel builit in the early 1900's. Much of it remains original with lead glass windows, grand wood staircase and stamped tin ceilings. making it easy to visualize what it looked liked in early days. Great all you can eat buffet featuring prime ribs and crab legs for $15.00 then off to a burlesque show at the Lucky Nugget Saloon. Very entertaining. Good day even with the rain.

They're heeeeere...

Thursday. Girls are coming today. Last night Dave and I took the opportunity to get tanked. Spent waaay too long at the bar, then GPS'd the closest Applebees.

Got up early this morning to get in the lineup at Black Hills HD for a set of new tires. To their credit, I was done and out in less than 1.5 hours after the service department opened, which was a bonus since we had half expected to be there all morning. We spent the rest of the day wandering around Rapid City. Solved a couple of technical storage problems with help from Walmart and Lowes. Trailer are working great Ivan. Don't know they are there... till you need a cold beer.

Had a hearty lunch at Perkins Family Restaurant (note the "Family"... means no beer), but free wireless internet (where Dave wrote yesterday's blog). Then downtown at the recommendation of the buggy-eyed guy at Best-Buy to have a few beers at the Olde Firehouse microbrewery. Across the street was a guns and ammo store and we couldn't resist a tour. The guys behind the counter were more than happy to share their stories of death and destruction by firearm with the requisite relationship between guns and law and order pointed out at every opportunity. (Now we know it's better to go for the head shot if the bad guy has a gun on someone, because apparantly if you don't take out the brain stem, the other guy's gun will go off.)

Went to the airport later in the afternoon to pick up the girls. They had flown 3 legs to get here and were pretty tired. Dave and I dressed up for the special occasion.



Drove straight to Sturgis and checked in. Dinner was ribs at One-Eyed Jack's. Could have shot a cannon through the place. If you haven't been there, it's a huge bar that basically lives all year for that one week in August. There are 30 bars in the place. During bike week, they have between 110 and 115 waitresses on the floor.

And that's about it. Girls passed out around 10, Dave and I did laundry. (I drank, Dave folded.) Thanks Dave :)

More Grass lands

On the road at 8:00 temp was a very comfortable 23, nice for a change. we thought that we would stay off the interstate and take the back roads to Rapid City.

What can I say about w-i-d-e open space, grass, grass and more grass, oh I almost forgot, we are in the beef area of the USA, I now know where all the black Angus steaks come from.

When we finally headed north towards South Dakota, the road was much better as you can see in the picture, the Black Hills on one side, the grass lands on the other, a great contrast, a great ride. Temp reached 33 and 427 kil later we drove into Rapid City around 1:00.

I don't have much to say about Kansas and Nebraska except I don't have much to say about Kansas and Nebraska.

Dodge City was ok, but not stellar. For a town of this size, we were surprised how tiny the "Wild West" part was. Just a single row of pretenda stores with a boardwalk. After the dinner and show, there wasn't really anything more to see.

So this morning, up and off we went. Still really hot... over 30c when we left at 9:00am, and it got hotter as the day went on. Drove straight north on the 183, stopped for gas, then north on 183, stopped for gas, then north on183, stopped for gas.... you get the picture.




The roads were all good, and the scenery, while repetitive was good too. Lots of rolling hills, then flatlands, then rolling hills, then flatlands. then rolling hills... you get the picture.

Pulled into Valentine, Nebraska around 6:00pm and headed straight into George's Mule Bar for a beer. There was only one other guy in there and he looked like he'd been welded to the bar stool. But the beer was cold and the bartender recommended the Cedar Canyon for steak. Tried the other bar in town after supper, the Skylite, but this time there wasn't anyone else in there. Played pool (Dave won, of course, a sign of a mis-spent youth), then headed back to the hotel to turn in.

One thing I forgot to mention the other day. It's very weird when you go in to the all-you-can-eat buffet, and the cute young cashier seems to feel she needs to tell you that it's only 8.99 for seniors. It's also very weird when you go in to the hotel, and the cute young desk clerk seems to feel she needs to ask you if you boys want one bed or two.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Day three end of the interstate

Up at 6:40 and, on the rosd by 8:00, temp 30 degrees. Not a cloud in the sky.
We decided to leave the interstate, and travel on Hwy 50 which is two lanes of truck heaven, every truck that comes and goes from this state was on this road. By noon the temp had climbed to 37 and by 1;00 we had arrived in Dodge. 455 kil later the temp on the sign was 102F.

We cruised the main street in seach of the Long Branch Saloon, and could not find it, we were in a bad way and needed beer, I mean water,,, we asked a couple of local people, and they did not know where it was either. We did manage to find it, after a short time and, believe it or not we drank them dry, they closed the beer taps and locked them. Can you believe it.

We went to the old west town, after checking into our room and, had the chuck wagon meal which was delicious, then to the Long Branch, for a old west shoot out( for a minute I felt like I was at work), then inside the saloon for the show, complete with dancing girls, and it was really quite good, but they still did not have beer so we had a sasparilla, another first.

To end, and for tomorrow may I be the first to say "TED GET THE HELL OUT OF DODGE"
Haha it was worth the drive.

Day Two, Everybody Talks to Me Like I'm an Idiot :(

So I'm wondering if it's old age, or just the fact that I've been getting up at 5am for work for the past six months, but I appear to be unable to sleep in. Dave, on the other hand, appears unable to get to sleep before 2am. We've officially switched clocks.

On our last trip, I vowed to turn Dave into an alcoholic. I believe I succeeded. This morning he was beaming. He said "Those beers went down pretty good last night!". Ah-hah. How many did you have? "Two!". Great Dave, welcome to AA.

Side effect of me waking up early... we were on the road at 8am. A warm but overcast morning, no traffic heading into Indianapolis. Straight through no problem. Killed two tanks of gas, then stopped for lunch in some little town, just big enough to have an Applebee's (our standby), and were served by little Miss. Hickey-Chick, a bi-lateral hickied waitress who, in explaining the circumstances to customers at her tables, blamed it on her curling iron. Spaz.

Back on the road, feeling good, but it was friggin' hot. 37 degrees. Stopped every couple of hours for water and a break... At one rest area we met a couple from Pennsylvania.

They asked us "Where you headed?"

We replied - Dodge City, then Wyoming.

"So are we! Where in Wyoming?"

Yellowstone.

"Us too!"

We're going to South Dakota first, the black hills.

"Us too!, how long?"

Three weeks.

"Us too!"

After a while, I began to wonder if maybe they were just a couple of locals and weren't really going anywhere, just wanted to f**k with us. Hope so, they weren't someone we relished running into constantly for the next three weeks anyway :(

At the same rest stop, another skinny guy with tattoos came over and asked us if it was hot. Um... yeah? He asked where we were going and how long.. he said he was on a one week motorcycle vacation and had been on the road two days... from Pittsburgh so far (we were just outside Kansas City). Said he was headed to San Diego and back to Pittsburgh. Okay, think about that for a minute.

Anyway, it was a very very hot afternoon which we survived by drinking copious amounts of water, juice, and gatorade. No beer... we learned that lesson last time.

Pulled into Ottawa, Kansas (no kidding) at 7:00pm. Air conditioned room, pool (which we used... was the BEST), then walked down to the steakhouse buffet where it was all you can eat steak and ribs buffet for $10. Met several 750lb Americans. Probably the only place they can afford to eat.

Back in the room now, blogging, drinking beer, and ready to crash. Sorry, no pics today. We've been lazy with the camera, but really nothing to see. We've been on the road two long days and it still looks like Ontario.

800kms yesterday, 950 today, and 500 left to Dodge City. We'll be there by noon tomorrow (get it?). Probably expecting us.

Promise to take pics tomorrow. Stay tuned :)

Wyoming

Well 2009 and on the road again. This year we are short 2 riders, but to remain famous (just kidding) we will keep the same name.
Rose and Aldo did not come this year not sure why, but truth be told they could not get their visa's stamped, to leave Welland.
June 20 2009, 10:00am Ted and I leave Niagara falls for Wyoming.
Ted had this idea that the storm was heading east, we were heading west and if we just leave we will get through it twice as fast, damm if he was not right.
For three reasons we are heading to Dodge City Kanas first
1st we are driving 2200 kil. so that we can have a beer (or two) in the famous Long Branch Saloon,
2nd I want to be able to say "Get the hell out of Dodge" and mean it,
3rd because the open road called us.
We just happen to leave in the middle of a tropical storm. For two hours we drove in rain that was so heavy we were going to trade the bikes in for jet skis. I have to say at this point don't hesitate to buy Frogg Toggs, they are great and we did not get the least bit wet.
When we reached the Ohio border the rain stopped the sun came out the the temp jumped to 30
850 kil, later we stopped in Greenfield Indiana for the night. The Wing the Harley and the two Bushtec's ran just perfect.
End day one.