We took a camera which Jacob used but there were several times we just forgot it as we're not used to or, quite frankly, that interested in taking pictures.
As the route indicates, we rode around the western US on a '95 K75RT I recently purchased with 27k, it had about 28k when we left. Now it has over 32k. It had complete maintenance prior to leaving with the exception of clutch spline lube and fuel filter.
Our first night was in Gerlach, NV where we dined on Bruno's world famous Ravioli. On our way to Gerlach we did encounter a cattle drive. I usually run into at least one per year. This one was on the smaller side as the cattle were being moved across the road as opposed to down the road.
The next day, about 40 miles short of Ely, NV the engine started to miss and "sputter" a bit. This was on US-50 the, "Loneliest Highway in America" in the Nevada desert. All kinds of things were running through my head. How much water did we have? Is there anyplace to get off the road (I'm very much opposed to parking on the shoulder if it can be helped). Long story short, we managed to sputter into a Conoco station in Ely. And, since I did not get the fuel filter replaced before we left, I threw one into the tail section of the bike (Napa Gold 3032). I swapped the filter and filled up and the engine was back to its steady droning down the highway.
We finished that day in Delta, UT. We stayed at the Rancher motel which I recommend. $50/night, clean, hot water (Bruno's did not have hot water) and the restaurant attached had the best homemade jam I've had in quite a long time. Delta also boasts an Ace Hardware that is also a Radio Shack and gun store. We found that to be blazing a new trail into one stop shopping.
The next day we caught our first views of Coyote and Roadrunner landscapes.
Jacob took a few pictures in Arches:
Jacob practicing his shooting from a moving moto-brick.
Balancing rock.
We rode on to Blanding, UT where we spent the night. If you're ever in Blanding, UT I recommend Fat Boyz for dinner. I had a rib-eye that could not be beat.
The next day was a short 250 miles to Grand Canyon. We rode through Monument Valley on the way.
The pictures don't do it justice. It is definitely on my list of places to bring my Jeep.
We got to the Grand Canyon in time to take the bus to the Hermits Cabin and hike along the rim a bit before dinner.
This one featuring the Colorado River.
Trying not to stand too close to the edge. According to one of the park rangers, some woman fell to her death 3 days before we arrived.
We were camping in Mather CG in the park. It rained continuously all night. Not just rain but a thunder storm. Often the thunder was quite loud and the lightning would light up the inside of the tent. I did not expect this. AZ in July? Also, I'm used to thunder storms that move. It'll rain, etc and then move on. There was no wind associated with this. It just stayed right there and poured. Consequently we got a late start the next day and didn't get as far as we thought we'd get. We had to ride about 60 miles or so before we got out of the steady rain.
That day was reasonably uneventful. The rain had gotten to Jacob's iPod so we were without music. We found another Napa and replenished our fuel filter stash.
We stopped at Four Corners.
Apparently we went to NM on this trip as well.
We made it through Durango to Pagosa Springs where we stopped for the day. CO was much more crowded than UT or AZ (and certainly NV) so the riding was much slower too.
My oldest son, Lucas, will be a junior in HS next year and is starting to look at colleges. We met him and his mother in Fort Collins that afternoon and the next day we toured CSU. The day after that, we went to Estes Park, CO to attend a family reunion.
While at the reunion, Jacob went on a hike while I spent some time in the park with Lucas. We all went on a 2 hour horse-back ride. We had a good time. Saw, lots of deer and elk close up too.
After leaving the reunion, Jacob and I rode north into WY. We rode through Ten Sleep Canyon. Then over US-14 from Greybull to Burgess Junction and back over US-14A to Cody, WY. I highly recommend these roads to ride. They're not the best motorcycle roads in the world, but they're nice roads and the scenery is very good too.
We stopped at Medicine Wheel in the Big Horn Mts.
This shot shows some of the 28 spokes. There are several cairns all open on the leeward side. According to the park ranger, they were once much taller and had stone roofs.
I had been there before with my older son, but this time they had park rangers there who added more information to our visit.
We got into Cody about 1300 and went to the Old Trail Town museum. It is an outdoor museum where they have several old buildings that have been relocated. Everytime I go there it has changed a bit.
Remember when classrooms had flags and portraits of Washington and Lincoln? That was before the Dept. of Education existed. This is the Coffin School. Apparently it was someones home who was found dead in it before it was used as a school.
The interior of the hole-in-the-wall cabin. Complete with pictures of Butch, Sundance and the gang. As well as portraits of posses sent to capture or kill them.
The other room in the cabin.
The street at the, Old Trail Town Museum.
After that we checked into our hotel room and walked to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center (or whatever it's called) where we spent most of our time looking that the firearms. They have just about every [modern] gun that has ever been made there. They even have some old Louis XIII match-locks. There are several "wings" to the Buffalo Bill museum, I'm something of a history buff and was dismayed to see that the Natural History and Plains Indians wings had been sanitized too much for my taste. This is probably why I like the Old Trail Town museum as it is not so, "sanitary".
If you're going from Cody to Yellowstone, the most direct route is NOT the one you want to take. Go north out of town and ride the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway to US-212 and go in the north-east entrance to the park. You won't be disappointed.
We got stopped by some buffalo on the road on our way into the park. Every year several people get gored by buffalo in Yellowstone. I was pretty nervous as were the buffalo. They were making whatever noise they make and sticking their tongues out. I dunno much about buffalo, but they looked nervous to me. Finally a pickup pulled in front of us and started moving through the herd. I tucked up behind him and followed him through. We managed to get through without incident.
I looked at one of the buffalo, jerked my thumb back toward Jacob and said, "Don't look at me, he's the one who had the buffalo burger last night!"
Jacob got to see lots of buffalo as well as geysers, including Old Faithful.
Old Faithful at full throttle.
We made our way out of the park and went through Virginia City, MT on our way to Dillon, MT.
The next morning we stopped at Big Hole Nat'l Battlefield (US Army vs. Nez Perce--Chief Joseph). We got there before before the visitors center opened, it was very quiet we could hear the coyotes singing to the moon (or whatever they sing to). Later when we hiked the trail down to the battlefield we saw rabbit(s). Which kinda explained the large number of coyotes we saw and heard.
That day we rode to Salmon and on to Stanley, ID. These are nice rides too. After that, it was down to Boise and home on I-84. The most road construction on our trip was encountered in ID.
I'm nowhere as good at this as crapdealerbob but there it is.
