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Ray & Sally's Motorcycle Tour of the West (click on the photos for a larger version - move your cursor over each photo for a description)
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Scottsdale, AZ - July 10, 2010
Vacation comes to an
end……by Sally, 7/10/10
Scottsdale, AZ - July 9, 2010 We left Cortez after another leisurely morning at around 10:30 and headed across the Ute and then to the Navajo Reservation. When we passed the famous 4-corners monument (you know, the place where the 4 states of Utah, Arizona, Colorado & New Mexico all meet and if you are a contortionist, you can physically be in all 4 states at the same time), it was closed for construction. Cars were lined up to get in and it was closed!! Unbelievable.
Cortez, CO - July 8, 2010 We had planned to spend today in Dillon and riding motorcycles down to Flaming Gorge, have lunch and ride back. Ray woke up this morning feeling coldish and achy so we decided to not ride today and pack up and head back home. We finally got everything packed and the motorcycle loaded on the trailer and we headed out around 11 am. Early birds we aren't but we planned to only go as far as Cortez (which is at the 4-corners area). We avoided interstate highways for almost all of this trip, choosing instead the 2-lane back roads for the interesting small towns and scenery plus the slower pace fit perfectly with the intent and purpose of our vacation. We opted to travel West on I-70 to Grand Junction and then head south through Delta, Montrose, Telluride and on to Cortez. We have driven and ridden the section of I-70 from the Eisenhower Tunnel to Grand Junction and this section of road has some really outstanding scenery. It would be a shame to not enjoy it, particularly Glenwood Canyon. Below is a video of Glenwood Canyon Sally took from the Pathfinder...sorry about the windshield glare. We dodged rain showers all day long but our luck ran out south of Grand Junction and we ran into the typical late afternoon Colorado rain storms along with some pretty high cross winds. We soon drove out of the rain and it was dry all the way to Cortez. CO 145 from Placerville to Cortez going South is one of the more scenic roads with fantastic mountain vistas. The area around Mt. Wilson is particularly spectacular and the mountain tops are still wearing their winter blanket of snow. We have been going to Cortez for years and has been our traditional jumping off point to motorcycling Colorado. The San Juan Skyway starts at Cortez which is a loop from Cortez to Durango, Silverton, Ouray, Ridgeway, Placerville, Telluride, Rico and back to Cortez. The route can be and should be ridden in reverse and is an entirely different experience. We have traditionally stayed at the Anasazi Inn which has been renamed to the Mesa Verde Inn. The rooms have been remodeled and the outside painted and is quite nice and they have not raised their room rates---it is a basic motorcycle motel but now has been upgrade a notch. However, the real draw of Cortez for us is the Italian restaurant "Nero". Sally was talking about eating at Nero's all the way from Telluride. As soon as we sat down and looked at the menu, we new something was different than the last time we were there--the menu was slightly different. Our waiter confirmed the joint has new owners. Sally remembered a particular dish from a few years ago that wasn't on the menu and was disappointed. But, our waiter said creating that dish would not be a problem. I am quite proud of my own version of Fettuccini Alfredo and wanted to compare Nero's versus my version. I lost and Sally's dish was also fantastic! Best of all was the desert (we considered ourselves still on vacation with no rules when it comes to eating) which was blackberry cobbler with home made peach ice cream topped with real whipped cream. Yummy. If tongues could have orgasms---well, you get the picture. We highly recommend Nero's if you are ever in Cortez. The motel has a real prairie dog town in back of the property and we took a stroll around to see if we couldn't take a photo or two. There were lots of mounds of dirt and entrances to the underground dens but we didn't see any. Maybe they had retired for the evening. We could see why ranchers hated prairie dogs as the entrance holes to the burrows are large and a horse's leg could easily fit into the hole. We are not sad that our vacation is ending; in fact it was way better than we had hoped. So we are going home with great memories of our time together sharing parts of the beautiful western part of our country. We are already planning our adventures for next year!!
Dillon, CO - July 6 & 7, 2010 We opted to take the scenic route from Louisville to Dillon via Clear Creek Canyon which starts at Golden and ends on I-70 very near a roadhouse (forget the name) but serves the best bowl of pork chili verde ever!! Clear Creek Canyon is a gem of a narrow steep-walled canyon carved out by Clear Creek. The only downside was we were in the Pathfinder towing our motorcycle instead of being ON the motorcycle. But there are canyons to carve in our future. We met up with our friends and hosts for a few days, Dawn and John Barnett. We got settled in and soon it was like a mini Black Mountain Motorcycle Club reunion. There are 7 or 8 BMMC couples in Dillon or nearby this week. We planned the next days ride (July 6th) and Bart & Kelly Iden and Sally and myself decide to go Rocky Mountain National Park and on to Estes Park for lunch. We met up with the Iden's at 8:30 and were off on I-70 East to US 40 north. We've ridden this road before but WOW, it is a motorcyclist's delight with curvy mountain roads and great scenery. We stopped at Winter Park for a bio/snack break and then up past Granby and Grand Lake and into the Park. Drats!!! I left my Golden Age Pass in the car. It's only $10 for a motorcycle and Sally mentioned that I had left my pass back in the car. The Ranger, a right jolly good fellow, said, "Heck, just show me your drivers license and you'll be good to go". It has been at least 15 years since we've toured the Park but wow, it is more beautiful than we remember. We have mentioned how disappointed we were with the scenery in Yellowstone and RMNP is more scenic by a factor of two (at least). Traffic was a bit slow and we did get stuck behind a large tour bus that was having problems with the mountain grades and when we reached the top, we decided to have lunch there and turn around as we were running out of time. Fellow BMMC member Jerry Perlstein was celebrating his birthday and had invited all of the Dillon BMMC members to his house for hamburgers and cake at 5:30. We had a great time a Jerry's birthday party but best of all, Sandy had bought a video of of popular recording artists of about 1964. It was a mix of Leslie Gore, the Miracles, Marvin Gaye, the Beach Boys, The Supremes and The Rolling Stones. And lots of Go-Go Girls in bikinis. None of the gals remembers little bikini's as worn by the Go-Go girls as being in style when they were growing up. Of course, the running commentary and all the gals singling along with all the songs was the best part of the show. We hope Jerry had a great birthday party because we sure did! An important part of the birthday party was planning the next day's motorcycle ride. After all, we are in Colorado which has some of the best overall motorcycle riding anywhere. We all agreed Steamboat Springs was a worthy destination for lunch with a stop off at Heeny on the way home to buy a locally famous T-shirt from the Master Bait and Tackle bait shop. And, this was going to be a boys only ride and the gals were going to Vail for the day as Sally wanted to take my Nikon and photograph the fantastic flowers. We rendezvoused at 9am and headed out west on I-70 for about 50 miles and took CO 131 North towards Steamboat Springs. What a marvelous road; not mountainous at the lower end but hilly with wonderful high speed sweeping turns. The hares and tortoises quickly sorted themselves out and we were off in search of lunch. We found a Mexican restaurant with a patio and had a relaxing lunch. After lunch we stopped at a Western clothing shop and one of our group bought a new pair of cowboy boots. We took a different route home and stopped at the small fishing resort town of Heeny on a lake about 25 miles north of Dillon. We bought our T-shirts and headed back to Dillon only to be looking at the entire horizon filled with black rain clouds. We kept hoping we would make it back before it rained and we almost did, but we rode in the rain for only a mile of so. Part of our group gathered at the Anton's for cocktail hour, pizza and fun conversation. We voted to watch Forrest Gump, a wonderful movie that we had all seen several times but all of us were commenting on scenes that we did not remember. You don't suppose that has anything to do with the number of candles on our birthday cakes, do you? Below are a couple of videos of Rocky Mountain National Park. Sorry for the jiggles...we had fairly high cross winds.
Louisville, CO - July 5, 2010 Late on the afternoon of July 2nd, Rob (our oldest & tour manager for Umphrey's McGee) called from Logan Airport (Boston) and asked if I could buy 10 pairs of drumsticks of a certain make and model since the band did not have any spares and they needed them for the concert at Red Rocks the next evening. They were not traveling with all of their own equipment and rented most of it for the concert. Somehow, the inventory of drumsticks was low. A few phone calls later and I had located the drumsticks and would pick them up the next day and deliver them. The band has finished an afternoon concert in Oxford, Maine and flew to Denver arriving around midnight, local time. The crew had to be out a Red Rocks the next morning by 8 am to get set up for the concert that evening. The band wasn't playing until 10 pm so we took a bit of a power nap in the afternoon to be ready for the long evening. We arrived at Red Rocks around 5pm and went through a couple of security stops and arrived at the special reserved parking lots on the side of the amphitheater and was met by Rob and a van driver who drove us up the hill to the side stage entrance. Rob provided us with "all access" passes so we had free reign of the entire venue---we could go anywhere just by showing our pass. We felt very special. We met up with the band members who we have met several times before. We are so impressed with them in that they have a real sense of being grounded and are really nice young men. There is a cafeteria in the backstage area and we were treated to a wonderful meal and eat dinner with Kris (drummer) and Jake (lead guitar). We then toured the facilities again (we were there two years ago) and I took several photos (see below). The interior hallways are lined with autographed photos of the acts that have played at Red Rocks -- it is a 'who's who' of act. My favorite spot in the entire facility is the underground tunnel that goes from backstage up under the seats to the sound/light area that is in the middle of the seats near the stage. There is a roped off area in front of the light/sound 'pit' where Rob had reserved seats for us. Boy did we feel special again. The underground tunnel is covered with autographs of various people and band members. Rob showed us where he signed his name and then put the dates underneath--he has been there 3 times. Sally and I signed our names but in an inconspicuous area as our fame is quite non-existent. Also accompanying us to the concert was Mack Clark (we are staying with Mack & Mary in Louisville) and Bob Floyd and his family who works with our youngest son Ryan. They were in Denver over the 4th and we invited them to join us for the concert. They arrived later and I gave them directions as where to go and Rob and I met them and Rob gave them a personal tour of the facility. They also got to sign their names in the 'tunnel' and got a couple of autographs. We headed up towards our seats and enjoyed a warm-up band that played just before Umphrey's. We missed hearing the first band but it was reggae based so we were OK with that. A little after 10 pm, Umphrey's took the stage and played until after midnight. The light show was great and the crowd (something in excess of 6000 people) were really into the music. By that time of the evening, there had been a lot of pot consumed (pot is legal in Colorado for medicinal purposes and based on that there were a ton of sick people there!) and we were constantly surrounded by clouds of smoke. After a while, we were quite used to it!!! We left just before midnight, beat the crowd and had a speedy drive back to Louisville where we are staying with good friends. We thoroughly enjoyed the concert and it is always such a treat to be with Rob. We had a lot of fun the next morning rehashing the concert. A lot of the fun of concerts in people watching and we had plenty of opportunity to indulge ourselves. Our 4th was quiet and the town of Louisville had decided to cancel their normal fireworks display for budgetary reasons. It was a great decision as we were under a tornado watch and we experienced torrential rain, hail, lightening and high winds about the time the fireworks would have started. We enjoyed the fantastic fireworks displays on TV in lieu of being there in person. We watched the Boston Pops perform and their fireworks were awesome but we all commented that we thought a better choice could have been made other than Craig Ferguson to be the Master of Ceremonies. Somehow the symbolism of freedom from the British on the 4th was playing in our minds. But then, we might be a bit provincial. We are off today to Dillon to stay with friends who are renting a condo and have an extra bedroom. There are several other friends also staying in Dillon so it will be a bit of a reunion. Most likely we will head back to Scottsdale in two or three days and transition from this wonderful vacation.
Louisville, CO - July 2, 2010 We arrived in Louisville yesterday afternoon after having met Caroline in Boulder for lunch. We met Caroline and her husband, Herb, while hiking in a red rock canyon is southern Utah. We had found a shade tree, the only one we saw in this canyon, are were sitting in the shade having lunch. Herb and Caroline came hiking down a side canyon and we invited them to share the only shade to be found. What an interesting couple. Both were from New York City and had quit there job, bought a Subaru and took off to explore the west for 6 months hiking and camping out and on a real shoestring budget. They were our kids age and we hit if off from the beginning. It turns out they were going to Scottsdale in a couple of weeks to attend a good friends wedding but didn't know where they were going to stay as they could not afford the cost of the hotel where the wedding was being held. Naturally, Sally invited them to stay at our house as we have plenty of room. They accepted and stayed with us for two or three days. It was good to reconnect with them and meet their two kids. We are with Mack & Mary Ann Clark, friends of Sally's from high school. We stayed with the Clarks two years ago and they stayed with us in March this year. We think it is great to have friends they can visit in the winter and we can visit in the summer. We have done nothing but visit and eat and generally being lazy. It is very good. We are going to Red Rocks tomorrow in Morrison to see our oldest son who is the stage manager for Umphrey's McGee and the band is the headline act tomorrow night. Here is a snippet of the 'romantic' life of being in a band. On Friday, the band played an outdoor festival in Oxford, Maine. They bussed to Logan Airport in Boston and flew out at 9 pm to Denver, arriving around midnight. At 7 am, Rob and the band crew is scheduled to be picked up and head out to Red Rocks to begin setting up for the concert that evening. Rob called me from the airport and asked if I could go out and buy 10 pairs of drumsticks for Kris, the drummer. I called around and located the 10 pairs (a specific brand and model) and Mack and I will go out and pick them up tomorrow. I said, "Wow, 10 pairs?" Rob said, "Yep, he really chops wood". Ok, the term for the day is: chopping wood! Kris is probably the most energetic drummer I've ever seen and wow, does he have upper body strength. The motorcycle is still on the trailer and we most likely will not ride it again until we arrive in Dillon on the 5th. There are several friends who are in Dillon and the immediate area and I'm sure we will get together for a day and ride the local mountain passes. We take some photos of Red Rocks and post them later. If you haven't been there, it is a stunningly beautiful facility and it is even more special in that we will have all access passes and we get to see the back stage and under stage facilities, including the cafeteria where we will have dinner. Ah, the life of privilege. Ft. Collins, CO - June 30, 2010 The mornings in Ft. Collins are seductive; cool yet comfortable and we sat outside this morning enjoying our morning coffee and the sinfully delicious croissants Stan served. Stan lives in a mobile home park and it is a delight. I suspect there are areas in Sun City that are outgoing and friendly as Stan's neighborhood, but I also believe that Stan sows a lot of goodwill and friendship and reaps in kind. Jodean, Stan's neighbor across the way, was out this morning and Stan called her over to meet us. She is a retired actress and she is not a shrinking violet and is well read, opinionated, adventurous, and used to ride a Kawasaki motorcycle and she recognized our Honda ST1100 just by looking at it. When she learned of our plans to ride Rocky Mountain National Park, she quickly pooh-pooed that choice and suggested Poudre Canyon instead. (pronounced 'pooder'). She and her sister had driven it the day before and went on and on about how beautiful it was and how crowded and slow Rocky Mountain National Park would be. Jodean lived in Chicago and worked for Studs Terkle for several years. An interesting person. Well, we have ridden a motorcycle through RMNP before and after a looooong day of slow traffic in Yellowstone, we were not anxious to experience tourist traffic again and since we have not ridden Poudre Canyon, that was our choice for the ride of the day. Jodean suggested riding as far as Cameron Pass and then returning. On the way back, she suggested we take Stove Prairie Road down through Rist Canyon. In describing this road, Jodean used the work "bucolic" to describe the countryside that we would see. Now, I know and can define "bucolic" but it is not a word that finds its way into everyday conversation. So, the word of the day is "bucolic". So, around 11am, we were off to see Poudre Canyon. This canyon road, like so many in the west, follows a valley carved by the Poudre River. All canyon roads are great motorcycle roads but this road is very special and wonderful. It starts out following the Poudre River through farmland but soon a wide valley begins that after a few miles starts to become narrower and narrower and the canyon walls closer and closer. The river is narrow and fast with whitecaps. And we see lots and lots of river rafters going down the river. It looks like a lot of fun. In one spot, the road is carved through a tunnel and the tunnel is in the middle of a curve. There was an anxious moment when we entered the tunnel but the exit was visable so it was not a problem. In the wider spots of the valley, there were cabins, campgrounds and a few roadside taverns. We saw several buses with trailers attached that hauled out the river rafts. And there were lots of fishermen as well. We could see mountains ahead and we began to gain altitude and left the warmish day behind and were very happy that we were wearing our cooler weather riding gear. Soon snow capped mountains were in sight and we were in pine tree country and still gaining altitude. We arrived at Cameron Pass, the high point on the road. As we were approaching the pass, we could not help but notice the white puffy clouds were being replaced by darker clouds. Those of us who have been in the Colorado mountains in the summertime understand this is a common happenstance. We stopped at a rest area (there are many turnouts with restrooms). This particular stop had what appeared to be the remains of a bear very near the restroom. It has been there for some time, but we think it was the real deal. As we were heading back down from Cameron Pass, the darker clouds were now streaking down from the sky. We knew it!!!!! Rain! But we thought the rain was going one way and the road the opposite way so we decided to not stop and put on the rain gear. Naturally, at 1 pm, it started raining. Our first inclination was to try to ride out of the rain but instead we were riding into the rain. We stopped and put on the rain gear and continued on. It was not a heavy rain and was spotty but it lasted for 15 or 20 miles. As we descended in altitude, the rain stopped and the pavement was dry and it was warming up. We stopped and packed away the rain gear and were off looking for lunch. We stopped at Mishawaka Bar & Grill for one of the best Rueben sandwiches we've ever enjoyed. Mishawaka is known for bringing in a wide range of musical groups; in fact, Umphrey's McGee (the band our oldest son, Rob, works for) played there 2 years ago. The walls are lined with authgraphed photos of acts who have played there. I found one of Joan Baez---so the place has been there for awhile. Not far from Mishawaka is the beginning of Stove Prairie Road and it was all it was advertised to be by Jodean. In a word, Bucolic. It seemed we had this wonderfully scenic and curvey road to ourselves. It is a hidden gem in Colorado. At the end, we took a wrong turn and when we stopped to do some GPS searching, a couple in a truck came by and asked if they could help us. They gave us directions back to Ft. Collins. We have found people in this area to be like that. Nice. Back to Ft. Collins and a delightful hour of conversation on the patio and then off to stuff ourselves silly at a great Mexican restaurant. We've loaded the motorcycle and are off the meet an old friend in Boulder for lunch. How we met this person is another story in and of itself. Long story short--we met them hiking in a canyon in southern Utah. Then we are off to Louisville to stay a few days with Mack & Mary Ann and to see our son and the band at Red Rocks on Saturday.
Ft. Collins, CO - June 29, 2010 We had our usual leisurely morning, sleeping in late, drinking our own coffee from our own coffee maker in bed and checking and writing emails. Ah...no tight schedule, no pressure, this is what vacation is supposed to be like. We headed down the road (literally, we were going south and that's downhill, right?) headed to Cheyenne and then on to Fort Collins, CO to visit my old friend Stan. Stan and I worked together in the mid '70's in Kansas City and have kept up our long distance friendship via emails and periodic visits. Like me, Stan had absolutely no problem transitioning from work to retirement. We both think the secret is to have had hobbies and active interests outside of our work careers while we were working. Stan's hobby is making wood bowls. That is too simple: he makes works of art that are made out of wood and resemble bowls. Let's see now. Wyoming. How do I describe the scenery Wyoming has to offer between Casper and Cheyenne. Is "bleaaaak" a word? After all the scenery overload we have experienced, the highlights of this section of Wyoming has to be the Antelopes. Beautiful animals and they seem very plentiful. But then, there are people who think our Sonoran dessert is not so pretty. It is in the eye of the beholder, that's for sure. Enough about that. Ft. Collins is a delight. It's green with lots of trees and with CSU located here, college towns have a certain energy and life about them that is just uplifting. And bicycles, they are everywhere. And as a sort-kinda bicycle person myself, I view that as an indication of people enjoying the outdoors with various physical activities. Stan and Sally and I caught up with one another and Stan is the kind of friend where you just pick up where you left off. We had a great afternoon and then headed out to eat Chinese at Stan's favorite place -- Number 1 China Buffet. Yup, that's the name. It was wonderful and the only photo we took all day was of the three of us pigging out. Tomorrow we plan to head out to Rocky Mountain National Park on our motorcycle.
Casper, WY - June 28, 2010
Hi Friends!
Red Lodge, MT - June 27, 2010 We woke up to a spectacular clear and bright day with the 'Big Sky' in full force. We had a lazy morning and after a delightful lunch, we headed out to Beartooth Pass on the ST1100. Yowza!!! It is fun in a car but on a motorcycle, it is outstanding. Not only are the curves great, the scenery just keeps coming at you and I can't think of another pass, even in the Rockies, that surpasses this road and the views. And the road is in great shape. Another one has been scratched off the 'bucket list'. Sally took some great videos from the back of the motorcycle and you can ride along!
Red Lodge, MT - June 26, 2010 We woke up in the middle of the night with heavy rain pounding on the roof with light showers in the morning. We decided today would be an R&R day and explore Red Lodge and wait for another day before taking the ST out to ride over Beartooth Pass. While Sally and Greta went shopping, Bob & I fabricated a new wiring harness for the motorcycle trailer. We then went downtown to meet up with the girls and do some exploring on our own. We rendezvoused with the girls at the local bakery. A real bakery!!! It was so hard to make up my mind but I settled on a huge apple turnover. We set outside on the sidewalk and enjoyed our coffee and oh-so-good bakery rolls and our coffee and watched the tourists go by. Sally and Greta stopped by the local custom motorcycle shop, Bone Daddy's, to enhance my wardrobe with a new T-shirt. The girls continued shopping and the guys were off and Bob showed me some of the local sights. Two stand out: The candy store. I've never seen so many different candy selections in my life and they were all out in the open, many in old fashioned bushel baskets. But of great interest was the incredible selection of antiques in the store that served as decorations. The antiques ranges from a 1921 player piano to a very old Triumph motorcycle complete with a carbide headlamp. I also enjoyed the antique bicycles. The second was the nature photography studio: The owner/photographer is a real artist and it takes a special skill, bravery and years of experience to be able to capture bears, buffalo, elk, moose and mountain lions up close and personal. His images are incredible and he is very willing to talk in detail about not only where he took the images but he willingly shared many of his techniques. I hope my pictures will be better as a result of talking with him. Last night a full moon rose over the mountains and I really believe the moon is larger in Montana. Bob and I were out with his tripod trying to take some long exposure shots of the moon. Our results were not all that good and we were forced to get out the manual and read it. I have a remote control that is needed for taking long exposures but we couldn't get it to work. I think I have a dead battery; we will get a new battery and try our luck tomorrow night. We are enjoying being with Bob and Greta and it feels like we have known them for years. We are very comfortable being with them and they have really added a lot of pleasure to our trip. Tomorrow the weather is supposed to be clear and warmer with light winds and we are going to ride Beartooth Pass both ways on the motorcycle. We are really looking forward to that. The photos below are the great views from Bob & Greta's house.
Red Lodge, MT - June 25, 2010 Today our destination is Yellowstone. The weather forecast is calling for cooler temps and a good chance of rain so we decided today would be a perfect car day. We decided we would do two days in Yellowstone and today we would do the Northern Grand Loop. Off we went and were so excited to go over Beartooth Pass with an elevation of almost 11,000 feet. What a majestic and magnificent road. The scenery of the mountain and the valleys and distant snow capped mountains just kept comming at you, turn after turn after turn. We can't wait to do it on the ST. We stopped near the summit scenic overlook and met a large group of German tourists who were touring the West for two weeks on Harley's. The Germans do love Harley's (not BMW's) and the West. We hit some heavy rain going down the mountain and again as we entered the Park. Thank you again, Golden Age Pass!! The NE entrance to the park goes through the Lamar River Valley and we saw herd after herd of Buffalo's. As we expected, if there was an animal near, cars stopped and there was instant traffic jam. At one point, a Park Ranger ahead of us turned on his flashers and was waving and yelling at people to get back into their cars. As we got closer, there was a huge (and I mean huge) bull Buffalo grazing just couple of feet off the edge of the road and the idiot tourists were out of their cars posing in front of the animal while their friends/family took the photo. This Buffalo didn't seems to mind the people and cars at all and kept on grazing and not even looking up. Animals, cars and traffic jams were common throughout our day in the park. But we did see many Buffalo, Elk and even a baby bear. We stopped at the visitor center and that entire complex of buildings was originally an army fort that was constructed to protect the park before the Park Service was created. This was a bit of history we were not aware. The traffic was very slow and so many cars would not even maintain the 45 mph speed limit. Those were the moments I was wishing I was on my motorcycle. Our original plan was to come back on the next day and see Old Faithful. Since it was two hours from Red Lodge to the Park Entrance and Old Faithful was the furthest point away from the NE entrance, we decided to suck it up and make a very long day of it and see Old Faithful today. This was a real 'bucket list' item for Sally. All of the volcanic features of Yellowstone are in the SW corner of the park and on the way to Old Faithful, we passed by many many different volcanic hot spring type of features of the park. For most of them, we were 'drive by' tourists shooting photos through the window or pulling over on the side of the roads for a very quick photo op. We did stop at Mammoth Hot Springs. Again, the traffic was awful and the parking inadequate. As a general comment, we were very disappointed in so many aspects of the park that it had not seemed to have grown and expanded with the number of tourists. Narrow roads, small parking lots, general deterioration of facilities and totally inadequate signage and explanatory information of what you were viewing. This park is a national treasure and it seems to really need a lot of funding. Even the movie in the visitors center seemed to be right out of 1950. Back to Old Faithful---we saw the geyser erupting as we were pulling into the parking lot. After a lot of searching for a parking spot, a necessary bathroom stop, the geyser had done it's thing and wasn't going to perform for another 90 + minutes. Again about signage, we did not see a single sign informing up when the geyser was going to erupt. The National Park service needs to go study how Disneyland operates. So all we saw was a few feeble spurts and lots of steam but it was still thrilling to just be there and we took our obligatory photos. We decided to not wait for the next performance and headed back to Red Lodge. We took a route back through the park that was on the eastern side of the park and it was probably the prettiest part of the day's drive and went by Yellowstone Canyon. Wow!!! Beautiful, steep and you understand where the 'yellowstone' name came from. We stopped in Cooke City just outside of the park but before Beartooth Pass for dinner. We were next to a couple from update New York who flew out to Jackson, WY and rented a Harley and were touring the area for a couple of weeks. They told us it had snowed on Beartooth Pass in the early afternoon and two Harley's were in accidents because of the snow. We headed towards the pass and managed to get across and back to Red Lodge around 9:30 pm and before total darkness. It was a long day and we were very tired and had decided that the next day would be R&R with perhaps a motorcycle ride over and back on Beartooth Pass if the weather cooperated. We already know that Beartooth will definitely make our top 10 list of our great motorcycle roads.
Red Lodge, MT - June 24, 2010 Today we traveled from Big Sky to Red Lodge up US 191 to Bozeman. Much of 191 goes through mountains and most mountain roads are constructed in river valley with the road following the river for much of the way. This results often in steep rock walls and winding roads. Beautiful roads! We headed North on 191 and were treated with more of the beautiful mountain scenery of the West. At Bozeman, we picked up I-90 and started East. Bozeman was a very impressive town and seemed very prosperous, modern and well maintained. The trip across I-90 was very pretty but we were pretty much out of the mountains. We saw several deer and a Pronghorn Antelope and baby by the side of the road. We picked up Montana 78 which would take us directly to Red Lodge but not without going through some serious construction areas. Summer is road repair time in the northern climes. As we approached Red Lodge the scenery changed from beautiful green rolling hills with the road winding up and down and around the rustic countryside. Although we have not been in Ireland, we thought it might looking something like the countryside we were enjoying. The Beartooth mountains were still wearing a coat of snow and served as a majestic backdrop to the green tapestry of color and texture in front of us. We rolled into Red Lodge which is a very impressive and vibrant small town. Our hosts for the next few days, Bob and Greta Christner greeted us like long lost family. We got 'moved in' to our guest room for the next few days and begin to plan our activities for the next few days. After a hearty dinner and lots of laughter and conversation, we were off to bed and thinking about our next adventure -- Yellowstone National Park. We don't have internet here that will work with our computers, so we will go into town in a couple of days and access the internet at a coffee cafe and update the blog and BMMC website all at one time.
Big Sky, MT - June 23, 2010 Today we arrived in Big Sky, MT, a very pretty part of the world. Our drive from Idaho Falls was uneventful but with great views of the 4 large peaks in the Teton as view from the West looking East. They were many miles away but still awe inspiring. We arrived in the little tourist town of West Yellowstone, parked and walked around and found a little restaurant for lunch. On the way back to the Pathfinder, we stopped at a small "hole-in-the-wall" ice cream shop that said they had homemade ice cream. The lady running the shop was the most enthusiastic person, sort of like what your favorite aunt would be, and she immediately sold me on the huckleberry. Right next to the shop was an old fashioned 5 gallon wooden bucket ice cream maker with an electric motor churning away. Yup, it had the ice and rock salt. And yes, the ice cream was delicious. From West Yellowstone to Big Sky, the trip was very scenic. The road did traverse through the very Western edge of the park and we could see whole hill sides & mountain sides where fires had been. Some areas looked newer than other based on the regrowth of the pine trees. Mother nature is very resourceful and life continues. We met our friends at the motel we are staying at (very nice, two rooms) and we followed them up to where they were staying. Lenny is a golf pro and is working this summer at Yellowstone Club in Big Sky. It is a very private club and the concept is the members built houses right on the ski slopes so the can "ski in, ski out" right from there homes. Definitely how the other 1/2 of 1 percent lives. The cabins are for guests of members. No riff raff here except for us, of course. Lenny and Sarah and their two beautiful girls were staying at a cabin at the very top of the mountain with a spectacular view of Lone Mountain (yes, there are Lone Mountains everywhere). We decided to go to dinner together at a local restaurant that has been in the area since the '40's. We learned that in Montana, and probably other states as well, cattle brands are a very serious business and are all unique and registered. Individuals may design and register their own cattle brand and apparently having a ranch and cattle is not particularly a requirement. So, instead of vanity plates, in Montana you can have a vanity brand. Hmmm, I wonder what the brand "Lazy Motorcyclist" would look like? We had a good and fun dinner and then went back to our motel so the girls (8 & 10) could go swimming, The swimming pool has a nice water slide and that was a huge hit. On our way back down from the mountain top, we were told to be on the lookout for Elk and Bear. We saw two elk but they were too far away and skittish to get any photos. However, not too far down the mountain was a large brown (black) bear eating grass alongside the road. Photos below. The bear pretty much ignored us and went on looking for its dinner. I don't know much about bears but this bear was a beautiful cinnamon color -- I guess the colors do vary. I told Sally after we took the photos, I almost expected the bear to stand up and put out his paw and say, "That will be $5 please". We are off to Red Lodge, MT tomorrow and will stay with friends for a few days who have graciously invited into their home. Yellowstone and Beartooth Pass are on our agenda. If we see nothing else, Old Faithful is on Sally's 'bucket list'. Our friends Bob & Greta will give us lots of tips on what to see, we sure.
Idaho Falls, ID - June 22, 2010 Our bike was sitting out in the parking lot this morning waiting for us to come out and pay attention to her and take her for a ride to see the Grand Tetons. We were up early (well, earlier than usual) and while enjoying that first cup of coffee in the morning and we checked the weather. Definitely not good. The radar showed a line of heavy thunderstorms from Salt Lake City to Yellowstone that was moving right over the Grand Tetons. The high temps were forecast only to be about 55 and it was 43 currently. It was an easy decision---today was going to be a car day. We had a light breakfast and were on our way by 9:30. We headed East on US 26 towards Jackson. The first 1/3 of the trip was very green farm fields planted in wheat and potatoes. It had that Iowa feel except for the huge irrigation booms. The last 2/3 of the trip -- OMG. Outstanding scenery. Swan Valley is a picture postcard and going up Teton Pass was very scenic, especially when you went over the pass and BAM -- there is the town of Jackson. We decided to take Moose-Wilson Road thinking it would be a scenic alternative. Wrong, wrong, wrong. After about 1/2 mile, the pavement ended and it was washboard narrow gravel for about 10 miles. We did get some neat photos of two elk in velvet. They obviously don't hunt in the park as these elk would have been trophies. Moose-Wilson Road finally ended and joined up with US 26 and we headed North. We experienced a lot of wet roads and sprinkles with a temp of 42 degrees at the lowest and we were so happy to have a heater and windshield wipers. The rain pretty much cleared out but the clouds were very low obscuring the tops of the peaks. We could only guess at the beauty we were not experiencing. We stopped at a small convenience store for some snacks and I had read about Idaho's famous candy bar -- the Idaho Spud. I bought one. Think of a snowball (you know, the fluffy coconut covered round ball of sugar) center, covered in chocolate with flakes of coconut in the chocolate and about 2/3 the size of a Snicker. My thoughts? Plant it and hope it doesn't grow. We had lunch at the North End of the park at Signal Mountain Lodge that overlooks Jackson Lake. We had a window seat and looked right at the Tetons over the lake. The clouds were beginning to thin a bit and we stopped several times on the way back to take photos of the peaks. There are no other mountains quite like these that rise up so quickly with sharp pointed peaks. Everyone has seen that famous photograph of the Tetons but we never did see that particular vantage point so we did the best we could. Sally is having fun with her videos so we have included some of the Tetons. We think the better views are from North to South. Sorry about the bug spattered windshield. We had a great day, the Tetons are fabulous and very worthwhile seeing and I would like to come back without any clouds. The road going up Teton Pass would be a great motorcycle road BUT lots of traffic and slow. The roads in the park itself would be boring motorcycle roads, but with so much scenery to look at, it could be riskier. Tomorrow we are headed to Big Sky, MT and will overnight there. Sally has church friends that we will meet up with and have dinner with them and their kids. They are about the same age as our kids and it is fun to have young friends (and that they want to be friends with us). They have been sending up pics the last few night of the elk and bear they see. So, we will go out with our cameras tomorrow night and see what we will see. Hope it isn't like the fishing guide who says they were really biting yesterday!
Idaho Falls, ID - June 21, 2010 Happy 1st Day of Summer or Summer Solstice (when the earths axial tilt is inclined towards the sun at the maximum angle) resulting the the longest day/shortest night in the Northern Hemisphere and the opposite in the Southern Hemisphere. Today we moved Eastward in the Mountain Time Zone and our goal for tomorrow is Jackson Hole, Wyoming and Grand Teton National Park. I have my Golden Age Pass at the ready!!!!! The weather is still cool here, Summer Solstice notwithstanding, with the temps in the 70's. In other words, delightful. We had a wonderful day and drive leaving at our usual late time in the morning. Instead of taking the Interstate across Idaho, we opted to take the back roads as we would do if we were riding the motorcycle. We took Idaho 20 which turned out to be a gem of a road that was very scenic with periodic views of the snow capped Sawtooths to the North. Local motorcyclists must appreciate this road as we saw dozens of bikers out riding today. We stopped in the little town of Carey (Pop. 513) at a local gas/convenience/hunting & camping supply/diner for lunch. Sally has a conference call scheduled and we had good cell service so we hung around until the call was completed before heading up the road. Just outside of Carey we started to notice huge lava flows that covered thousands and thousands of acres. We were on the edge of Craters of the Moon National Monument. We did not realize the Monument was ancient lava flows--we thought it was an area that resembled the surface of the moon. You know, light colored, dry and dusty and very barren and desolate. (Actually, there is a town called Lunar that is East of Capitol Reef National Park in Utah that is very lunar landscape looking). We had plenty of time, so we stopped at the visitor center and watched the short movies about the area and how it was formed. As it turns out, the area was named back in the 1920's when they probably though the moon's surface looked like this area. But, it would seem a moments reflections would have scotched that idea as black is a poor reflector of light. The road past the Monument ran through the Snake Rive Plain and was flat and unremarkable with much agricultural irrigantion. As we neared Idaho Falls, we could see the Tetons in the distance. We are excited. We are behind on posting some photos for the past couple of days---we will try to catch up tonight.
Boise, ID - June 20, 2010 Miss Sally woke up feeling much better today, so after a lazy morning, we headed out on the bike around 10 am and headed North on Idaho 55. This road is a sleeper. Heading out of Boise it goes through miles of subdivisions and finally into some farm land and then starts winding through the large hills North of town. The hills are still green but I suspect they will be brown later in the year---and sagebrush. The further North we went, we started climbing in altitude and started seeing a few trees at the tops of the hills and the roads became a bit more twisty. We crossed the Payette River a couple of times and it seemed to be a slow moving wide gentle river. We were thinking "Ho Humm". Then we started seeing river rafting outfitters and cars with kayaks on the top and recreational exits to the river and we realized the good stuff was yet to come. How right we were!! Soon, the road began to run parallel with the river in a very narrow canyon that the river must have carved out over the eons. That tame wide slow moving river we saw earlier now became a live angry snarling beast. I have never seen white water like this before that moved with such force. There were certain corners when the bike was leaned over in the turn where I would look right down to the white water raging with such force that it was almost disorienting for a fraction of a second. The thought occurred that a person wouldn't live very long in that water. Sally took a great video of us riding alongside the Payette River and you will have a seat alongside Sally and I riding up Idaho 55. It got colder as we rode North and we passed through a cold front and we started seeing dark clouds over the mountain tops. But no hint of rain and we kept riding because we knew somewhere up ahead was lunch and we were sure it wouldn't be at a chain restaurant. All of a sudden we were out of the canyon and into a large valley with mountains on either side. The road went one way and the river another and we were into farm country. No too far ahead we reached this little town of Cascade and the Route 55 Diner. It had a red roof -- who could resist? We knew we were in the right place when the featured display when you walked in was an amazing choice of homemade pies and they served breakfast all day long. Plus the decor was amazing; galvanized roofing for wainscoting. It really looked OK. The food was good and plentiful. As we headed out into the parking lot, it began to sprinkle but the skies looked clearer. Just a mile or so down the road heading south and we were out of the rain for the rest of the journey back to the hotel. The scenery was just as amazing on the way back. The traffic was heavy but we finally realized Idaho has few roads going through the mountains so traffic naturally funnels main routes heading towards cities. But traffic moved along briskly and it really wasn't an issue. We decided to load the bike onto the trailer when we got back, which we did. We weren't in the room 5 minutes and the heavens opened up and there were sheets of rain blowing across the parking lot. As the saying goes, it's better to be lucky than good!! We have a rough idea of our itinerary for the week. Tomorrow we will be in Idaho Falls for a couple of nights and we will motorcycle the Jackson Hole and Teton National Park area for a day or so. Wednesday we will head to Big Sky, MT and ride in the area and overnight there and be with some of Sally's friends from church. He is a golf pro and works at the Big Sky resort in the Summer and Troon Golf Club in the Winter in Scottsdale. Then Thursday over to Red Lodge, MT to stay with our friends, the Christner's. Bob will just have gotten back home from a motorcycle trip himself and we are looking forward to seeing them. From Red Lodge we will see Yellowstone for the very first time!! Below are a couple of short videos we took today on Idaho 55.
Boise, ID - June 19, 2010 Today was a "lay low" day. Sally spent most of the day sleeping and trying to get over the crud that I had earlier and that I apparently passed onto to her. So sorry, Sally. We did get out mid-day and did a bit of exploring of Boise in the Pathfinder and went to the grocery store for a few supplies. We also did laundry here at the hotel and the pint jar full of quarters that I had packed came in very handy. We now are good for another 10 days of so of clean clothes. I caught up with some motorcycle club work as the webmaster and did a slide show of our clubs ride to Page, AZ and our tour of Antelope Canyon. If anyone is interested in seeing another dozen or so photos of this beautiful work of Mother Nature in a slide show format just click: The slide show will take a while to load, so please be patient. There are many photos of club members that you may not be so interested in, but the photos of the canyon are very worthwhile (I took them all with my trusty Nikon). If Sally is feeling better tomorrow, we would like to take a ride up Idaho 55 which heads north out of Boise and follows the Payette River for several miles. I read about this road in one of the motorcycle magazines I subscribe to and the road is one of the 'Scenic Byways' in Idaho, as is Idaho 21. We are catching up on our reading and I am well into "The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest". It is a good read and yet I am saddened that this is the last book of the trilogy.. Rumors has it there is an unfinished 4th manuscript that is embroiled in legal controversy. The weather forecast has a weather front coming in tomorrow with a good chance of rain further North. I haven't complained yet about daylight savings time. Boise is close to Oregon and therefore on the very Western edge of Mountain Time and coupled with Daylight Savings Time has the sun setting at around 9:30 pm. The twilight this far North lasts for a long time; I think you could read a book outside at 10 pm. Arizona does not observe Daylight Savings Time and we are so accustomed to having it dark when the 10 pm news comes on. All this daylight has really messed with our circadian rhythms. No photos for today. Boise, ID - June 18, 2010 Sally has been super stressed over a very important loan and it was finally funded this afternoon. We had to stay in cell range and wi-fi capability until we knew the wire had been sent! Wooo Hoooo. We got the bike ready and finally got on the road today around 3 PM and headed north out of Boise on Idaho 21 into the Sawtooth Wilderness. Idaho 21 is a relatively narrow 2-lane mountain road but it is in great shape and a delight to ride. I don't recall a single curve in the 150 or so miles we rode today that wasn't a constant radius turn. For a non-motorcyclist, that probably didn't mean very much, but for motorcyclists it means curves don't tighten or loosen up as you are going through a them. We may have gained and lost a couple of thousand feet today with the highest altitude only around 6000 feet. Judging by the types of spruce trees that grow here at the altitude would equate to something over 9000 feet in Arizona along the Arizona/New Mexico border near Hannagan's Meadow. The roads were delightfully curvy with mountain streams running alongside sections of the road. We were surprised when an Osprey came swooping out of the stream on our right hand side and was heading right towards us. It veered off at the last second and swooped in behind us and then started to fly right alongside us. That bird had caught a fish and was flapping for all it was worth to stay airborne. Sally had her camera out and managed to snap a photo. We think the fish was at least a foot long . See the photo below. We went from Boise to Lowman (a small little mountain hamlet that is all but closed down and for sale), turned around and headed back. Our original plans were to go as far as Stanley but we just did not have enough time. Utah 12 is a sweetheart of a road. It has sections that reminded us of the White Spars going in Prescott, the Coronado Trail and sections of AZ 260 on the Mogollon Rim. This road got us to speculating what would be Ray & Sally's Top 10 motorcycle roads. We read a list somewhere of the 10 best motorcycle roads in the U.S. and we had ridden at least 6 of them. Of course, your list may not be my list so those kinds of lists are pretty meaningless. BUT, after this trip is over, we plan to decide on our own list that we personally liked either because of scenery (most important) and technical difficulty (less important as I get older). We will share later because we have some really nice roads coming up on our trip. Sally's little Canon camera has video capability and I was really "in the zone" this afternoon so I asked Sal to take some videos of us going around the curves. You motorcyclists know what that means; the curves seem to almost be in slow motion and the curves seem effortless and oh so fluid. It is an exhilarating experience If you click on the YouTube video below, it will link to a relatively short video of us on the bike this afternoon. Turn the sound off as there is extremely annoying wind blast AND the actual ride on the bike is 10 times smoother than it appears in the video. Also, every video I have seen taken from a bike never quite gives the same perspective of the road and speed as experienced by the rider---this video included. But, it is close and shows the road and some of the scenery we enjoyed today. We forgot to pack any water with us today (how experienced are we, really?) so we stopped at this little town of Idaho City for some liquid. Sally drank an entire bottle of water and I nursed my diet Pepsi. At one time, Idaho City was the largest city in the area (we stopped and read the historical markers along the side of the road). But the historical marker didn't say why. Well, the answer is pretty obvious if you have ever been anywhere where placer mining has taken place. Gold. There are several miles of these huge piles of rocks left over from placer mining along the sides of the roads and alongside the stream that flows alongside the road. We've seen this in Colorado and California and it is so obvious when you understand what you are looking at. We arrived back at our hotel (Cambria Suites -- highly highly recommend them) and Sally promptly threw up and was achy all over and skipped dinner. I think whatever I had a couple of days ago she now has. Drat!!!! The only good thing is in a day or so she will be feeling so much better. So, once again, our totally flexible touring schedule is working perfectly. We don't HAVE to be anywhere tomorrow. It may well be a sleep/nap read a book day and we may extend our time here for another day. We want to ride up North through the Payette River Valley. Then perhaps we will turn back to the East with the intentions of arriving in Red Lodge next Thursday or so. For a short motorcycle ride with Ray & Sally on Idaho 21 -- click on the YouTube video below.
Here are some photos of our day.
Boise, ID - June 17, 2010 Car day today getting to Boise – about 300 miles! This is a pretty big country we live in and we have all been used to hopping on an airplane and arriving a few hours later….lost track of the time it actually takes to get places! Thankfully Ray is feeling better and we will be off on the motorcycle tomorrow to ride this area. We were having lunch some place in Idaho and I kept looking at this couple across the room – it looked so much like a couple from our church and lo and behold it was! She is originally from the area and they were back visiting family – what are the chances of that happening! My topic tonight is sleeping accommodations…..I thought a lot about them as I was driving…… Usually motorcycle trips involve out of the way places and that means older motels and no big chains, so you are never sure about the quality. Really what do you need but a clean place because all you are going to do is sleep and get up and move on in the morning! Last night was a motel I picked and it was pretty bad…..I made a decision that since we would be in Boise 3 nights, it would be nicer…, but you have to be a good sport when you get one of those nasty ones, as it is part of the adventure! Fortunately tonight we found a rather new place that feels like the Taj Mahal compared to the other places we have stayed. Even has Bath & Bodyworks soap and lotion, funny the things you notice! Til tomorrow friends! Ray here--as you can tell, Sally is a people person and I am more into the scenery and the journey. Logan is a very nice little college town that is isolated enough that it still has the active town square and a vibrant downtown area. It is located in a bowl or a valley surrounded by quite high mountains with snow on the peaks. Yesterday afternoon and evening was cold and rainy and since I didn't feel all that good we stayed inside. This morning dawned bright and crisp and we were off to Boise. It was quite beautiful leaving Logan with the snow capped mountains and everything is quite green. As we traveled into Idaho, it really was quite plain and the mountains we were near had few if any trees and sage brush,,,lots of sage brush. Depressing amounts of sage brush. We did get into the agricultural area and the potato crop is in so our supply of McDonald's french fries for next year is assured. This must be a desert as evidenced by the lack of many trees and the irrigation we saw in the fields. Iowa corn fields look lush in comparison. We arrived in Boise and it is just there surrounded by brown hills or small mountains.. We will see more of it tomorrow as we plan to ride for two days. Our first day we are going into the Sawtooth National Forest and the next day up route 55 through the Payette River Valley. We haven't decided where to next, perhaps a bit farther north. We think our sensibilities are very jaded from living in Arizona, having toured the Rockies several times and having just come from southern Utah, new places have to be pretty spectacular for us to say we would like to go back. In all fairness, the drive from Phoenix to Tucson on I-10 is about as butt-ugly as scenery gets. Sorry about the lack of photos the last couple of days. We have them, I just haven't worked on them. We seem to run out of time at the end of the day and it takes a while to select the photos, reduce them, add them to the blog, etc. It just isn't a couple of mouse clicks. For our BMMC members, I am working on the slide show to go along with the Antelope Canyon Ride Review. Ron & Vickie have finished the review so it is me who is holding up the show. I have whittled down the photos from over 900 to around 250 or so. My target is no more than 125 so I still have some work to do plus decide on the music. Maybe Elton John??? Yes, the room is very very nice. It is important to keep Sally happy. Sally finished "The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest" tonight; it is next on my reading list. She wants me to hurry up and read it so we can discuss it. We took a couple of photos leaving Logan but none of southern Idaho. Just not very pretty.
Logan, UT - June 16, 2010 Welcome to Logan, Utah, home of Utah State University and by all accounts of what we have seen this rainy day, a really nice town and a beautiful drive coming through the mountains getting here. Another lazy morning as we really didn't have plans to ride today as we were expecting nasty weather and it did arrive. Ray has not felt very well today, aching, flulike symptoms, so we got our motel and he took a nice long nap. Hopefully, we can ride in the morning before we head to Idaho, but if the weather is bad, we will just have to come back here on another trip. The drive from Nephi was mostly on Interstate through Provo and Salt Lake City, then our GPS lady took us off the Interstate and we actually rode on a two lane road that was almost parallel to the highway - stupid GPS lady, but even more stupid to follow her blindly - just can't trust that voice all the time! Anyway, we made it here and will buy a new GPS when we get home. No pictures to share today as we didn't even have the camera out, but food recommendation for Logan, Utah, is almost worth the trip! The Beehive Grill (this is the beehive state in case you didn't know that fact!) was the closest to our motel and Ray found it on the iPhone. A nice walk of about a block in the rain and misty weather to pick up a cheap hamburger - but then I missed the happy hour, so came home with two pasta dishes that were wonderful along with gelato for Ray. Tomorrow night, Boise, Idaho - never been to Idaho before and when I hear it, I only think of potatoes, and know there is so much more there. Will hopefully have some photos and interesting people to share with you as we take rides out of Boise for a couple of days. Looks like great roads! No photos for today. Nephi, UT - June 15, 2010 We started our lazy morning in Escalante, UT with a couple of cups of coffee from our espresso maker and our own coffee while laying in bed surfing the internet on our laptops catching up on the happenings in the world. We finally got ready to go, loaded the ST1100 on the trailer and headed North around 9:45 am. We love keeping our own schedule and being unhurried and that is a key reason touring by ourselves works best for us. We traversed the same wonderful Utah Hwy 12 again all the way to Torrey, UT. We planned this sequence as we are just so fond of this part of Utah. It just doesn't get old for us. We did make a quick stop in Boulder, UT for a fresh role of duct tape for my broken tail light and a Boulder, Utah T-shirt for Sally. Naturally we took a few more photographs along the way. We turned West on Utah 24 for a few miles and then turned North on Utah 72. I think most people are not aware of this road but our good friend Bart highly recommended this road and boy, was he right on. It is a wonderfully curvy road that goes up and over mountain and has great scenery and practically no traffic. However, the 'bitch' that lives in our GPS didn't like the road at all. After 3 or so "make a U-turn" exhortations, we unplugged her. I think a new GPS is in our future. Sally has some pressing business and cell service was important, so we bypassed our original route of two lane roads and hopped on I-70 and boogied West. It was a great choice as the scenery was wonderful, we made great time and Sal had cell service. We arrived in Nephi, which is a very small town South of Salt Lake City and right at the base of Mt. Nebo. We saw Mt. Nebo for miles away as it was so prominent on the horizon and was capped with snow. We checked into our room and unloaded the ST and got on our riding gear and headed towards the Mt. Nebo Scenic Byway Loop. It is 38 miles of windy mountain roads that loops around the 11,000 foot plus Mt. Nebo. Much of the road was at altitudes in excess of 8.000 feet that wended through Aspen forests. At the highest point, the Aspens had not yet started to bud out and at lower elevations, they were completely leafed out. Naturally, it was much cooler on the mountain than in the valley. On our way back, there were storm clouds over the mountain with lightening. But we missed the rain. Rain clouds and mountain just go together, particularly in the afternoon. The weather forecast is for a good chance of rain and 40+ MPH winds with gusts over 50 MPH tomorrow, so we are so enjoying the flexibility of our touring schedule. We do not HAVE to be anywhere tomorrow. We are going to head North tomorrow to Logan, UT and head over, probably by car, to the Promontory Point National Historic Site where the first Transcontinental Railroad joined up 140 or so years ago. They recreated the driving of the "golden spike" and they have two functioning replica steam locomotives that are part of the re-creation of the event. The locomotives should provide some nice photo opportunities. It is a National Park and with my Golden Age Pass, that means FREE. Thursday we will make a large loop out of Logan and back and then on Friday, we head up into Idaho. We had no outstanding encounters with wonderful food today nor did we meet any interesting people other than we overheard some very loud Germans in a restaurant. We'll post some photos tomorrow night. Here are some bleated photos. We went up Hwy 12 again and got some additional photos of this incredible place:
Escalante, UT - June 14, 2010 Both Sally and Ray are writing tonight. Ray is going first: Today was about the road---Utah 12 to be specific. This road has to be one of the most scenic roads in the world. From Kanab to the intersection of Utah 24, it is incredible; from Escalante to the intersection of Utah 24, it is mind blowing. It has everything from red cliffs that glow in the sun, to deep canyons whose walls are streaked with desert varnish to Ponderosa Pine forests to 9600 high mountain passes covered with Aspens and overlooks that take your breath away. And the road itself is made for motorcycles with twisties after twisties and best of all, very little traffic. It was sensual overload today. We had a leisurely morning and enjoyed our own coffee from our own coffee maker (the joys of combining motorcycles and Pathfinders). The rain had left and the skies were that deep blue that you only find in the Southwest. The Honda ST1100 was running great and it was so good to be back on our old friend. The temps were cool and Sally was having al love affair with her electric vest behind me. I have a bit more protection as I'm closer to the fairing and windscreen and I was doing fine with just my leather jacket and a short sleeved T-shirt underneath. Between Escalante and Boulder (about 28 miles) is probably the most intense part of the road from a technical riding viewpoint but also the scenery is spectacular. We'll include a few photos below. We met some interesting people today and that is one of the underrated joys of motorcycling. We rode the Burr Trail today. We discovered the Burr Trail about 12 years ago on our first hiking trip to Utah. It starts at Boulder and meanders for about 25 miles to the border of Capitol Reef N.P. About 8 or so miles the road drops down into a red rock canyon (Long Canyon) that just takes your breath away. Imagine riding down a twisty road with salmon red sheer sandstone walls rising up on both sides about 800 feet. On the way back, we saw two motorcycles on the side of the road and they waved us down. They were from West Texas and wanted to know what was ahead on the road. We went on and on about the great sight they were going to see and one of them said to Sally, "Stop. Stop, I want to be surprised". They looked like hard core Harley folk but their enthusiasm and love of their adventure was joyous to see. We stopped at a gas/convenience store at Utah 12 &24 and saw an old motorcycle and an old motorcyclist parked in front. I walked up to the guy and said, "I think I passed you going over the mountain back there". That started a delightful 30 minute conversation with this fellow. He was riding a 1998 Royal Enfield. For those who don't know about Royal Enfield's, this is a British design from 1955 that is manufactured in India. It is a single cylinder 500cc motor that makes about 28 horsepower and is a kick start -- no electric starter. This bike was like a lot of the older Harley's in that it really leaked oil. He had 4 quarts of oil bungeed on that bike. He started his trip 3 weeks ago in Arkansas and was camping out every night and that bike had not failed him. Best of all, he told us when at McDonalds to ask for the "senior coffee"--it is half price!!! Not on the menu!!! We rode Utah 12 again back the other way to Escalante. We planned this segment of the trip to ride Utah 12 twice since this road is that special. We have named that portion of Utah 12 that goes over Boulder Mountain "Bambi Road" because of the at least dozen deer we saw on the side of the road. Believe me, I slowed my *ss down coming over that mountain as a deer strike is probably a motorcyclists worse fear. Tomorrow we load up the bike on the trailer and head to just south of Salt Lake City to ride the mountains in that area. We woke up this morning only to find somebody had backed into our trailer and broke out one of the tail lights. Fixed it tonight with --- guess now -- with duct tape!!!!! Sally is next. As I told Ray tonight at dinner, there are three high points about motorcycling – scenery, people and food! Today was no exception as they were all there! My most memorable people today (actually two groups of them) were the two guys from Wisconsin and one from Michigan that are spending 3 weeks in the Southwest. They did the train from Williams to the Grand Canyon, but actually felt the ride today on Highway 12 was more beautiful than the Grand Canyon! Imagine that! It is pretty and spectacular, but don’t know if it was that good! There was supposed to be four of them and their friend died in his sleep of an enlarged heart shortly before they were to leave, so they brought his leather vest, and every place they stop, they buy Louie a pin for his vest and pick up some dirt. They will take it home, put it in his “man cave” in a glass enclosed frame and label it “Louie’s Last Ride”. I was so touched by the fact that in some small way, it helped to ease their sorrow and have their friend with them. We met them outside the Subway in Torrey, Utah. The other couple was from England. We had a lovely talk with them and after finding out that they would be following us on Highway 12 (AWESOME!) I told them of the great scenery to come. They found us on an overlook and stopped to tell us how much they enjoyed the trip. They are spending tonight at Bryce Canyon (which is my favorite in this part of the world!). They said they knew they would not be disappointed in my recommendation! Oh yes, I almost forgot the food aspect - Gloria's homemade pies! Last night was banana cream with blueberries and tonight was coconut cream - Thanks Gloria!
Escalante, UT - June 13, 2010 Hi Friends & Family! Sally is writing tonight. Left Page, AZ this morning at 9 AM, and yes, we were the last of the Black Mountain Motorcycle Club to leave! Ray and I were reminded after leaving Kanab, Utah of just why we love this part of the US. Utah is one of the best kept secrets for its outstanding scenery. From the parking lot at our motel tonight, you can tell that the foreign tourists have a fascination with this part of the country and love to visit the “West”. We are very glad that we are trailering the bike since the temp was 47 degrees and raining as we made our way to Escalante, Utah. We look forward to 80 degrees & sun tomorrow and enjoying some of our favorite roads in the area. We will be here two nights and then head north.
Page, AZ - June 12, 2010 The
weather forecast for today was a 40% chance of rain. After a
thunderstorm last night, we were not too optimistic for dry weather and
good light for today's tour of Antelope Canyon, perhaps the most famous
slot canyon in the world. The rain held off and the sun came
out for our canyon tour which was spectacular. Our motel is on
a hilltop overlooking Glen Canyon Dam and the Vermillion Cliffs -- here is
the view from our motel room looking at the Vermillion Cliffs. That's our
Pathfinder and motorcycle in the photo.
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Page, AZ - June 11, 2010 We met our BMMC group this morning to travel together to Page. We were hauling our bike on a trailer while the rest of the group rode their bike (well, some of the ladies drove cars. We followed the groups as a safety net in case anyone broke down and we could load them up on our trailer. Everyone one made it safely to Page. We stopped in Munds Park just south of Flagstaff for a gas/bio stop and the temps were in the low 60's. The folks on the bikes were digging out extra clothes to keep warm. We stopped at the Cameron Trading Post for lunch and we enjoyed these huge Navajo Tacos. Most of us discovered later in the days the beans on those tacos were particularly potent. These skies were getting dark and there was rain all around but were managed to arrive without anyone getting wet. The road outside of Page runs along the Vermillion Cliffs which are very high reddish salmon color sandstone cliffs that are gorgeous when the sun hits them in the afternoon. Our skies were cloudy but they are still very pretty. Below is a photo Sally took from the car as one of our groups passed us going through where the road cut through the cliffs. We enjoyed our traditional BMMC cocktail party and later in the bar, we noticed a young couple who we knew were not American. The west is full of European tourist during the summer. We were taking bets on their nationality. The bets were German, Scandinavian and Dutch (Holland). I won a beer with my guess of Holland. Naturally, Sally went up and befriends them. It started raining in the evening and we are hoping the rain will be over tomorrow and the sun will be out for our tour of the world famous Antelope Canyon, which is a slot canyon carved out the reddish salmon color sandstone that is so abundant in the area.
Scottsdale - June 10, 2010 We are leaving tomorrow for a month on a motorcycle trip through Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado. We are trailering the motorcycle and will stop in a central location "the hub" and take day rides "spoke rides" out from the hub. The motorcycle has undergone extensive preparation for the trip (new tires, oil, filters, etc) as had the tow vehicle, Sally's Pathfinder. We are almost packed and loaded and it is so different from past motorcycle trips where we have been out for 10 days or so with everything carried on the bike (can I get one more day out of these socks before we have to stop and do laundry). We are packing almost nothing in the bike; it all goes into the Pathfinder. Sure, Sally, we have room for that case of wine and two suitcases of clothes. No problem. I think I am going to like this way of motorcycle touring. We have no schedule, no reservations, no need to be at certain locations at a certain time. Our only constraint is we need to be in the Denver area by July 1st where we will rendezvous with our oldest son, Rob, for a concert at Red Rocks on July 3rd.
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