Our September, 2012 Adventure Ride
Through
California, Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Utah
Here is our route and some of the places we’ll be during
the following eleven days:
Day 1 – Santa Cruz, CA to Virginia City, NV - via Lake Tahoe.
Day 1 – Santa Cruz, CA to Virginia City, NV - via Lake Tahoe.
2 – Virginia
City to Wells, NV - via lots of northern Nevada desert.
3 – Wells to
Challis, ID – via Sun Valley.
4 – Challis
to Deer Lodge, MT – via lots of Idaho mountains and (other) valleys.
5 – Deer
Lodge to Billings, MT – via lots of Montana back roads.
6 - Billings
to Yellowstone National Park, WY – via BEARTOOTH PASS!!!
7 –
Yellowstone Nat’l Park to… Yellowstone Nat’l Park – via lots of geysers and
waterfalls.
8 – Yellowstone
Nat’l Park to Cottonwood Heights, UT – via I-15.
9 –
Cottonwood Heights to Tonopah, NV – via lots of Utah and southern Nevada
desert.
10 – Tonopah to
Greeley Hill, CA (near Groveland) – via Yosemite National Park.
11 – Greeley
Hill to Santa Cruz, CA – via the fertile Central Valley of California.
The day before
5pm – I just finished the last of my chores, and am now
trying to patiently wait for Sharon to arrive from San Francisco. Poor baby… she had to work feverishly, right
up until the last minute before leaving… directly from her appointment with her
hair stylist. Helmet hair or no helmet
hair, it’s gonna be great to watch her as she dismounts from Honey and shows
off her locks and good looks. God I love
that woman.
It’s gonna be a tremendous ride, and we’re gonna see so
many different things… I thought it would be appropriate if I took something
with us from San Francisco, to share with other people on our adventure.
Thursday 9/6/12
3am - I thought Cecile (the woman who’s house I’m currently
living in (as a pseudo caregiver of sorts) was sleepwalking at first, but then
I realized she really was fully awake… and attempting to figure out how to put
her food processor together. I kind of
laughed to myself… I hadn’t slept very well for the previous few nights and was
really hoping to be able to catch up a bit before my normal wake up time of
about 5am. Alas… that was not to be the
case. Fortunately, after about 10
minutes of me helping her, she gave up and went back to bed.
5am – Up and off to the gym. Just a quick soak in the hot tub this morning
though. Sharon (bless her heart) had
agreed to leave at 7am, and I wanted to make sure we got some food in our
stomachs before hitting the road. I’m
mean, caressing the road.
7:01 – Sharon pointed to her wrist and told me what time it
was. She is an amazing woman, even
though she is not normally a morning person, she is still a joy from the time
she wakes up (no matter how early) until the time she goes to sleep. Ok… she’s a joy when she’s sleeping too. Women… they’re so cute when they’re sleeping,
aren’t they? J
7:11 – After sharing our morning good luck beverage, we
were mounting Honey for the start of our Second Adventure Ride. It wasn’t until we were about 35 miles down
the road that we realized we’d both thought about putting our “Just Married”
sign that we made on our last Ride, on the back of Honey, but hadn’t followed
through with saying anything about it to the other person. Sharon suggested we could cross out the
“Just” on the sign, and I added the idea that we could write in, “Still.” We both agreed we would start that as our new
tradition, on our next Adventure Ride, and it would have the Roman numeral III
on it. Personally, I’m already looking
forward to putting the first X on it.
Not for our marriage silly… for the number of Adventure Rides we’ve been
on.
I pulled over at the summit of Hwy 17 to take a picture of the sunrise. Sharon asked what that big bright thing in the sky was and I told her, “This is what the sun looks like before 10am, you should try this more often” (early mornings have always been my favorite time of day).
Sharon has always been a GREAT passenger, and this morning
was no exception. As I had suspected… we
ran into some weekday commute traffic as we were going over the hill, and then
again going through the greater San Jose area.
Most of my passengers haven’t been real keen on splitting lanes, but
Sharon mentioned after our first bout
with the traffic, that even though it had been the most intense and longest
duration of splitting traffic, that she felt totally comfortable, and told me I
had done it with tremendous confidence and that that helped her a lot with her
being able to stay relaxed during the this process. Thanks babe.
There’s a definite technique involved. Too fast, and it becomes (even more)
dangerous, too slow and well… it’s just not safe staying right next to any one
particular car for any longer than is absolutely necessary. The other thing is timing the transition as
you pass each car. If you can avoid threading the needle… when the cars are
directly next to each other… that gives you a lot more room to get your
motorcycle’s mirrors (and handgrips) past the mirrors (and fenders) of the
other vehicles. When you’ve got the
timing dialed in, it really is a beautiful dance.
The other example I can give you about her wonderful
ability to stay calm on the back of the bike is when a car next to us started
moving into our lane. She actually
noticed it happening before I did, and simply tapped me on the shoulder and
pointed. Having someone sitting right
behind me as we’re going 75mph down the freeway with only a few feet between
the cars next to us, and not screaming with panic when something important is happening, is a real
pleasure. Thank you wife… for matching
up so well with me, in so many ways… I love you more.
Ok, one more example and then I’ll get off this “My wife is
the Greatest” topic (for a while). The
difference with this example is that it kinda makes me wonder about her sanity…
as if I needed another reason than the fact that she loves me. During one of our splits, I slightly miss-timed
it, and brought the rear end of the big rig on our right, and the mirror of the
car on our left, to within about 2” of each of Honey’s mirrors (and handgrips). I actually let out a little eeek.
Sharon just giggled.
After we got off the freeway for the day, I actually
stopped and turned around and went back for this picture. For those of you who enjoy road trips on back
roads, you will understand why.
We had begun Adventure Ride II at the lucky time of
7:11. We stopped for brunch in Plymouth,
on Hwy 49… one of my favorite roads… in the world… just south of Placerville,
at 11:11. Luck is not always a factor,
but when things like that happen, I always try to acknowledge The Universe for
its kindness and love. Thank you Universe.
About two hours later we made it to our first (of many)
scenic overlooks. Lake Tahoe. We stopped twice at Emerald Bay.
This is sure one big ass lake.
5pm – After going all way around The Lake, we went back
down the east slope of The Sierras, and pulled into my niece’s family’s home in
a small town called Gardnerville… right on schedule. Or at least the time I’d hoped we’d be there
when we left that morning. Timing, like
composition, presentation, and (Roman) numerals… is everything. No it’s not, but I’m running out of things to
say, and Sharon is still snoring away in bed next to me.
Note: As is my new
tradition with her on these Adventure Rides… I’m taking advantage of the time I
have between when I get up, and the time that she does. Which this morning, is about 2 ½ hours.
So… it’s almost time for me to do my first bouncing and
panting and tail wagging on the bed, so I end the first day’s entry with this,
a picture of my extraordinarily beautiful (inside and out) niece Michelle, her
perfectly adequate in every way husband Will, and the youngest of their three
children Willa (sorry for not getting a picture of you Wallace and Roland).
6:45pm – Virginia City.
Time to tie Honey to the hitching post for the night. We had a four-star dinner and a very pleasant
walk along the boarded sidewalks downtown, and then settled into a very restful
sleep around 9pm. Kinda late for me, but
Sharon had talked me into spending some time in town the next morning, so I
knew I could sleep in if I wanted to.
Yeah… right… me… sleep in.
A beautiful 386
miles for the Day One. Highest elevation
– 7,382’.
Friday 9/7
5am – Ned up. 7:30am
- Coffee, journal entry, and sunrise appreciation period over… time to wake up
my wonderful wife. Today is going to be
(another) very good day!
After a lovely breakfast we did our pre-packing, and then went for a walk through the town cemetery. It was an honor for both of us, to be able to feel the presence of so many of our pioneers and their incredible spirit and strength of will. The picture of the headstone I picked out for the story didn’t turn out. It had the approximate average lifespan of the +/-100 we stopped and paid tribute to. 44 years. The most aged was 72, and we saw two gravestones marking the placement of residents of Virginia City who died the same day they were born.
After a lovely breakfast we did our pre-packing, and then went for a walk through the town cemetery. It was an honor for both of us, to be able to feel the presence of so many of our pioneers and their incredible spirit and strength of will. The picture of the headstone I picked out for the story didn’t turn out. It had the approximate average lifespan of the +/-100 we stopped and paid tribute to. 44 years. The most aged was 72, and we saw two gravestones marking the placement of residents of Virginia City who died the same day they were born.
We were both melancholy but peacefully happy as we rode Honey
the short distance back to downtown, for a shot of whiskey and a few hands of
poker. Sharon asked me, and she easily
agreed to cash in her winnings, after she had doubled her initial investment. She turned a five-dollar bill into a
ten. Way to go Sharon!
Our last stop before re-mounting Honey for the day’s ride was the obligatory old-time photo.
Our last stop before re-mounting Honey for the day’s ride was the obligatory old-time photo.
It was almost noon by the time we high-tailed it out of
Dodge (you know what I mean). I knew the
rest of the day was gonna be tough on me… not only were we going to suffer
through what I was expecting to be one of the two most non-scenic days of the
Adventure, but we had already burned about four hours of daylight, based on my
normal time of departure on these rides.
I’m much better in the mornings… I tend to fade dramatically in the late
afternoon/ early evening, so although I kept my spirits up on the outside, I
was already feeling the end of the day’s ride’s effort gnawing at my shoulders
and back muscles.
As we were packing earlier that morning, I’d mentioned to
Sharon that I was trying to stay optimistic about what we’d see on the road
that day, but in my heart, I was also sort of preparing myself for a very…
dull… and long… day of dry… brown… high mountain desert.
After our first gas stop in Austin my fears were
confirmed. The highlight of the first
third of the day’s ride was a cloud that looked like a human hand, and the side
of a hill that had a slightly different hue of brown in it.
Here are pictures of the two other highlights for the rest
of the day’s ride. Kellie… the one on
the right is for you. Yep, Nevada has
hay bales too!
We pulled into our (almost) flea-ridden motel in Wells at
about 6:30pm, had our ½-star dinner at the casino next door, and were in bed by
8:15. I’m not sure about Sharon, but I
was asleep by about 8:17. Oh… the
chocolate cream pie was pretty darn good though.
407 miles for the
day; 793 for the trip; 6,674’ highest elevation of the day.
Saturday 9/8
4am – Ned up. 6am –
Ned pacing… trying to get Sharon to stir just a little, so he can gently and
playfully bounce, pant, and wag his tail…
6:10 - Bouncing,
panting, wagging… check. 7:30 – Off and Away.
It was a cool morning but we packed knowing we were gonna
be near 10,000’ in elevation on this Adventure Ride, so we layered up and were
snug as two little bugs. We didn’t even
use the leather jacket liners, nor our long underwear. It wasn’t that cold.
Our first stop was in Jackpot, at the State line between
Nevada and Idaho. We met these three
guys from Alberta, who were on their yearly ride from their home in the north,
to Las Vegas, where they stored their bikes for the winter. They fly home from there, and then fly back
in the spring, and ride their bikes back to Canada. This was the third time they’ve made this
migration, and fit the stereotypical image of Harley Riders to a tee. Let’s say they were aloof. They were (at least) polite, so I will be too,
and won’t use a different word that might sound offensive. It would be more accurate though.
I’d been wanting to throw some of my money away at a
roulette table since we’d gotten into Nevada, but hadn’t found a non-video
version of the game. Unfortunately,
Jackpot had a casino that had one. It
wasn’t unfortunate that I was able to throw my money away… I had tremendous success
at doing just that. The unfortunate
thing was that it gave Sharon and I a chance to get into what has to date, been
the worst fight of our relationship.
I wanted to be silly and goofy while I was throwing my
money away, and based on her experience working in the industry years ago, Sharon
wanted me to follow the proper protocol of behavior while I was inside the
casino. Our two visions of what we
wanted were diametrically opposed, and even though I thought she was cute while
she was getting upset at me, the same cannot be said for her. It wasn’t until we stopped for breakfast, 70
miles up the road, that she would even speak with me. I promised her… next time I went into a
casino, I would act more dignified and calm for her.
After going across a bridge across a beautiful canyon with
the Snake River below (not to be confused with The Snake River Canyon… which I
have seen and is as breath taking as The Grand Canyon in my opinion), we
stopped at Mammoth Ice Cave and Museum.
It is the largest (by volume and open to the public) volcanic cave in
the United States, and was pretty cool.
Get it? It was cool in the ice
cave. Hardee har har. The entrance fee was a lot of money, but it
gave me another opportunity to throw money down a hole.
The museum was, in Sharon’s words, “The most eclectic
collection of items she’d ever seen,” and I had to agree with her. It had everything from Indian arrowheads to
snakes and spiders. From a stuffed
giraffe to a gar. From dinosaur bones to
dried flowers. Yes indeed… it was like
being in Oz. It had lions and tigers and
bears, oh my. And that wasn’t a typo
back there… I’d never heard of a gar, but by golly this museum had several of
them, caught in a lake in West Texas of all places.
Finally, after hundreds of miles of flat, dry, brown, high
Nevada desert… we made it to Sun Valley, ID.
I’d heard about this place my whole life, and had built up a grand
picture in my head of the geo-graphic splendor and beauty I would
experience. Instead, both Sharon and I
found the place to be placid and sterile.
I had never been to a ski resort where the roads leading to it were so
straight and flat. The mountains were
more like rolling hills, and it took us about 30 minutes (which included
several incorrect directions from more than two of the locals) before we found a beer pub with outdoor seating. The beer was pretty good though, I must say.
Something else that’s hard to explain with words to anyone
who hasn’t experienced this, is how nice it is sometimes to ride on the open
roads without wearing a helmet. Neither
of us does this very often, but to me, the feeling can be described as the
difference between driving a hard top car versus driving a convertible.
There were no suitable photo ops for the next portion of
our ride, which followed the Salmon River through Stanley, and down into
Challis, but for any of you road trip aficionados out there… believe me… this
is one of the nicest roads you’ll ever ride (or drive, god forbid, if you don’t
ride) in your life. It has wonderful
scenery and perfectly orchestrated twists and turns to make your heart sing.
After picking our motel for the night, we settled into bed
and were lights out by 9pm. It was a
wonderful Day 3, and put us at 351 miles for the day and 1,146 for the trip. If you were paying attention, you already
know the highest elevation of the day.
I was already looking forward to tomorrow, which was going
to begin with a “Plate sized cinnamon roll” for me, and a left over chocolate
cream pie for Sharon. When she ordered
the pie after dinner, she told me, “I’m doing a chocolate cream pie comparison test
across the United States,” hence the name of this story.
Sunday 9/9
(Otherwise known as, “It’s off to Grandmother’s house we go.”)
5am – Ned up. Just
as I was finishing up the morning’s journal entry, and thinking to myself how I
was going to gently wake up Sharon…
7am – She rolled over and said, “I love you.”
9am – Off and away. It
was a very relaxing and peaceful morning ride as we continued following the
Salmon River as it flowed north (which is not normal for rivers in the northern
hemisphere). We stopped after about 30
miles to add another layer of clothing in the cool morning air, and it wasn’t
until after I had pointed my camera at the river, that we noticed the four deer
making their crossing.
There was a fire in the area and it was pretty smoky as we
crested the 7,214’ summit and crossed into Montana, the fourth State of our
Adventure Ride. The sun was warming the
air as we headed down from the summit, and our next stop before getting to our
destination this day was to remove layers of clothing and take a picture of
Honey in her surroundings.
As we started off again,
Sharon gave me a big hug from her position on Honey behind me, and whispered
into my ear, “Thank you so much for making this such a beautiful journey.” I just shrugged and said, “You shouldn’t
thank me… thank God.”
2pm - We arrived at Sharon’s grandmother’s home and settled in for a nice relaxing visit. It was a very short ride of 224 miles for the day and brought our total to 1,368, and once again… you already know the maximum elevation we reached that day. Forest fires are terrible and tragic, but they do make for spectacular sunsets.
2pm - We arrived at Sharon’s grandmother’s home and settled in for a nice relaxing visit. It was a very short ride of 224 miles for the day and brought our total to 1,368, and once again… you already know the maximum elevation we reached that day. Forest fires are terrible and tragic, but they do make for spectacular sunsets.
Monday 9/10
6:45am – NED SLEPT IN and we both got up at the same
time!
8:45am – I had my coffee and the gals had tea, and then we
were off and away, in search of our good luck morning beverage. It didn’t take us long… we found Jerry’s
about 15 miles down the road. He was a
colorful dude. Said he’d ridden over 300,000
miles in his life and had saved all (approx.) 100 tires he’d worn out during
the process.
We also met a nice couple of gals outside his place. Deb and Colleen said they weren’t related, so
I called them “The prettiest non-blood sisters I’d seen in a long time.” They were extremely cute, and so was their
companion Eric, but wasn’t nearly as photogenic as Jerry.
The next 50 miles or so of the ride, following the Little
Blackfoot River into Helena, was very fun, and for several different
reasons. Number one, it gave Sharon and
I another opportunity to experience the connection
we have: As we passed an older model
Jeep CJ5, I leaned back and told her, “If we lived here, I would buy you that
Jeep.” Without missing a beat, she
responded with gusto, “I want that Jeep.”
Seeing new (to me) things is another thing that makes me
happy, and this contraption falls into that category. It’s called a buck rake, and it’s used for
making haystacks.
Another example of the (simple is as simple does) fun for
me was this haystack, and this young gentleman named Tim Cole. He was a working that day as a flagman at the
road construction going on, and if you can imagine his hard hat as a black
cowboy hat… you’d see a better image of what this young buck was like. He told us that instead of finishing high
school, he and one of his buddies took off on their motorcycles and toured the
United States for two years. Said they’d
gone all the way down the west coast to the tip of Baja… across the Country
through Texas… up the east coast into Maine… and then back to his home in
Montana.
When I gave him my business card so he could go to my blog
and read about himself, he reached for his wallet. I thought he was gonna give me one of his,
but he said he was waiting for them in the mail. He used a term I wasn’t familiar with, which
is the street term for what type of
business he was getting ready to start.
Basically… he wants to do what he did with his Acura.
He said the only thing stock on the car was the interior
and the body. Everything else was ‘gone
through and customized.’ He’d modified
the 4-cylinder engine to pump out 475 horsepower, and had put in a GPS and the
associated electronics required to give him real
time information about not only the road conditions, but also the location
of all the law enforcement vehicles in the area. Yep, Timmy Cole… he was definitely a
character to be reckoned with let me tell ya.
First Jerry, then Mr. Cole. This
day was full of fun for Ned. Oh… and the
scenery and road were pretty good too.
Our next stop was for gas at the approximate mid-point of
our Adventure Ride. Wow… we were already
5 days and over 1,500 miles into the ride.
Good thing I was having too much fun to be sad it was already almost
half over. The other thing that helped
me was that I was getting ready to get together with my favorite (kissing)
cousin Tam and her (not to be kissed) husband Billy. And the following day was gonna be the
highlight of the trip, our ride over Beartooth Pass, which had been rated the
#1 road for motorcycles last year. And
when we come down the summit from there… we’d be in Yellowstone National
Park. Yes indeed… I still had a lot to
look forward to… no time (or need) to be sad.
So anyway… when we stopped for gas, I used the station’s
facilities and found the cleanest, best smelling gas station restroom I’d ever
been in. The guys in the garage both
gave me big smiles and thank yous when I told them so. Most people put pictures of just the scenery
and people they see along their Adventure Rides. That’s what makes my blogging so much more
complete. I like to include the little
things that will really make you feel like you’re here with me. That’s why I call my blog ... adventure stories and more ...
Oh… one more (simple) example of the fun I was having… road
signs I’ve never seen before: “ Watch
for Fallen Rock” – I’d seen “Falling Rock” many times in the past, but when I
saw “Fallen,” all of a sudden I realized how unlikely it was that you would
actually see the rock as it fell. Duh.
The other sign that made me smile was, “Watch for Stock” -
which took me a second to figure out.
I’d seen “Livestock” before… and then… again, it made perfect
sense. Even if the animal wasn’t alive…
if it was on the road, it was going to be a problem, right?
4:30pm – We pulled into Tam & Billy’s driveway and were
immediately welcomed into their home with open arms. It was almost… no, it WAS embarrassing,
watching Billy clean Honey for me, as the gals and I chatted away. Dinner was spectacular and the conversation
was just as good.
They have a beautiful home in Billings Heights (the best
kept secret in Montana), and they left Billy’s basement/ personal museum for
last part of their tour. Here are only a
few of the trophies he had mounted on the walls and placed on the floor. The bear at the top is the largest bear
(based on the size of its skull) ever ‘brought down by an arrow in Montana.’
Tuesday 9/11
3:45am – After 7 ½ hours of rest, I decided that as long as
I wasn’t sleeping, I’d go ahead and get up and do my journaling and coffee
drinking. Sharon was expecting me to
wake her at her normal time of 7am, but she was going to get a little surprise. I’ll sign off now, and let you know later how
it went for her. I mean, how it went for
me.
6:15am – Everyone was happy and drinking coffee and tea
(whew, Sharon didn’t mind getting up earlier than planned). Billy had a hunting engagement, so wasn’t
gonna join the rest of us on our ride over The Beartooth, but it was impossible
not to love this guy anyway. He is the youngest
70-year old I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet.
I hope I can be as young spirited and physically as healthy as he is
when I’m his age (which isn’t really that far away in the grand scheme of
things). As an example of both their
spirits… they’re both members of a riding group called B.A.S.T.A.R.D.S., which
stands for Bikers Against Stupid Twits And Really Dumb Shits. They’re so cute aren’t they?
7:30am – First it was Billy cleaning Honey, now it was Tam
putting air in her tires. I told them…
if they weren’t careful, Sharon and I were going to be moving to Billings. The only thing they needed to do was to get a
bigger bed for their guest room.
7:45am – Off and away.
The first stop was in Red Lodge at the base of the pass. The sign on the bank said it was 52 degrees,
but it sure seemed a lot colder than that.
The elevation in town is about 5,500’ and we were going to be going up
to almost double that. One of the
patrons in the restaurant we had breakfast in, said it was 34 at the
summit. It was time for the jacket
liners and heavy gloves (our long johns were already in place).
I took a total of 10 pictures of our ride over the
pass. None of them did the area any justice whatsoever, but here are a few of them anyway.
The smoke from all the fires in the area made the photo ops
more frustrating than anything else. We
saw the beauty and the splendor of the place, but here’s an example of what we
missed out on. This is Pilot & Index
Peaks… the first one is mine, the second one is a post card I scanned after I
got home.
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Our time with Tam & Billy was so enjoyable that I
literally pouted when it was time to say goodbye. No offense Tam, but my sorrow was soon
replaced by the joy of Yellowstone.
The picture on the top is one I took of the bison walking
BETWEEN the cars in front of us. Sharon
took the picture of the other one, along the side of the road not far from there. In between these two pictures, we broke the
Park Rules. Sharon read in the flyer
they passed out at the entrance that we were not supposed to get closer than 25
yards from the bison. When bison #3 (not pictured) walked past us
ON the road… it was only about 2 yards away.
Yes… we almost could have reached out and touched it.
3:30pm – Since we were planning to stay two nights in The
Park, we decided to get our room early.
Even though this was supposed to be the off-season… there seemed to be a
lot of cars and people, and since the first Lodge that was open was located at
Yellowstone Falls, which was the primary scene I was looking forward to anyway…
we pulled up and went into the registration center.
It was mayhem in there.
When we were finally able to get to the counter, we were told that there
were no rooms left in the entire Park.
Sharon, bless her heart, spent the next 30 minutes on my phone (bless
you Verizon), and was fortunately able to find us a room. Unfortunately it was 115 miles away. Fortunately it was in Jackson Hole. Unfortunately it was more than twice the cost
of what we’d budgeted. Fortunately it
was a spectacular facility and the dinner was five-star, which gave us our
third opportunity to throw money in a hole.
The change in plans will add several hundred miles of
additional riding to our Adventure, but that’s what this is… an Adventure RIDE!
9:30pm – Lounging in our king sized bed, relishing in the
thought of sleeping in the next day and then spending the night at The Inn By
The Lake. Before we had left
Yellowstone, we double-checked and were very lucky to have found that someone
else had just cancelled their room reservation for the following night!
Highest elevation of the day (and I’m sure of the trip)
10,947’. Miles for the day - 310; for the trip – 1,987; Day Six joyfully complete and in the book.
Wednesday 9/12
6:15am – Boy, it sure felt good to sleep in!
8:15am – Sharon got herself out
of bed and into the shower all on her own
L. But the bouncing and
the panting and the tail wagging were extra special J!!
We decided to lolly gag this morning, and enjoyed a very
pleasant stroll through The Village and had a very nice breakfast. It was after 11am by the time we got on
Honey. A start that late on an Adventure
Ride… unheard of.
Instead of getting back onto the main highway and
high-tailing it back to The Park, we decided to take a little side road for
awhile, which gave us some really spectacular views of The Grand Tetons. It was still a little smoky, but these will
give you a fairly good idea what these mountains look like. What was really interesting to me was how
different they looked from only slightly different vantage points as we made
the short 9-mile drive along the base.
As we were entering The Park, Sharon gave us our obligatory
“I Love You Heart Sign” for good luck.
One of the interesting facts we learned, when we got to Old Faithful was that
Yellowstone is home to 150 of the world’s 650 geysers. Here’s a picture for those of you reading
this in the hard copy version, and a
video for those of you reading this on-line on my blog.
Between our late start and the not so off-season traffic…
we had to bypass about ¼ of The Park. We
rode past a few of the gurgling geysers and Sharon and I were both very happy
with what we saw from Honey. Next time
we’ll make reservations in advance, so we can spend more time IN The Park, and
less time driving to and from it.
One of the stops that we were not going to miss was
Yellowstone Falls.
We made it to The Inn at Yellowstone Lake just in time to
clean up a bit and then enjoy another five-star dinner at a five-star dining
room. Sharon insisted that we buy an
expensive bottle of champagne, and take it up to our room for dessert. I like her idea of room service desserts.
Day 7 (our intended layover day) ended blissfully after 282
miles, which brought our total to 2,169.
Our high elevation was at the middle of the three Continental divide
signs… can you remember what the sign said without looking back at it?
Thursday 9/13
5am – Ned up. The
coffee machine in our room didn’t want to work properly, so the day started off
with cold coffee. Much better than none
at all though.
6am – Sharon
up, giggling and happy as usual, but for some reason, I felt a bit off. 7am – Breakfast at a
table in the dining room overlooking Yellowstone Lake. It was really beautiful, but for some reason…
I couldn’t shake my feeling of something not being just right inside me. And it wasn’t the cold coffee, I was sure of
that.
8:00am – As we were heading out the door with our luggage,
we stopped and met Ed White, a security guard for The Hotel. He said he lived in North Carolina, and was
looking forward to getting home so he could ride in warmer weather for the winter. The picture next to him shows you the frost
we found on Honey that proved his point.
Our first stop was just about two miles down the road for gas, and my mood instantly changed. Before we got to the gas station, we slowed almost to a stop to look at the second male elk we’d seen in The Park, along the side of the road. He had just crossed, and I scanned the side that he’d come from to see if I could see another of his family or friends that might be with him. Sure enough, his wife was there. She started slowly running in the same direction we were going, so I matched her pace. She sped up… I sped up. She increased her gallop again, and I asked Honey to speed up hers too.
Our first stop was just about two miles down the road for gas, and my mood instantly changed. Before we got to the gas station, we slowed almost to a stop to look at the second male elk we’d seen in The Park, along the side of the road. He had just crossed, and I scanned the side that he’d come from to see if I could see another of his family or friends that might be with him. Sure enough, his wife was there. She started slowly running in the same direction we were going, so I matched her pace. She sped up… I sped up. She increased her gallop again, and I asked Honey to speed up hers too.
Now, Mrs. Elk was at a slow, comfortable, but full
gallop. I looked down at Honey’s speedo,
and saw that we were going almost 30mph.
If that was a slow and comfortable gallop, I’m guessing the woman we
were paralleling could’ve run at least 40-45mph if she’d wanted to.
We had to turn off the road for our gas, and as we said
goodbye to her, I smiled to myself and thanked The Park and The Universe for
helping me get out of the funk I’d been in.
Those brief moments when we were riding alongside that elk will stay
with me forever. It was the Adventure
Moment of The Trip for me, and we’d had some good ones (already), and I knew
there were many more to come. Ned being
happy happy happy… check.
Honey was happy too.
When I filled her tank and crunched the numbers I calculated that even
with all the quick accelerations to pass the slower cars in front of us over
the last 172 miles… she’d gotten 45 miles per gallon. She has always loved the thin mountain air. She and I are very much alike in that
aspect. Cue The Doobie Brothers,
“Running on Empty.”
Our route out of The Park was going to backtrack the road
we’d just been on the afternoon before, so I allowed my mind to wander just a
bit. I started thinking about the layers
of clothes I was wearing (it was probably about 35 degrees, and with the wind
chill it was probably closer to 15, but neither of us felt cold at all).
From the bottom up:
cotton socks, wool socks, boots, underwear, long johns, jeans, chaps,
rain pants, short sleeve t-shirt, long sleeve t-shirt, lightweight jacket,
hoodie, leather jacket, with liner, baklava (that’s what I called the combo
hood/ neck warmer thingy), the hood of my hoodie, helmet, and sunglasses (I
count the sunglasses, because my helmet doesn’t have a visor). That’s a total of 18 items, and I still had a
sweater in the tail bag that I could’ve put on if I’d needed it.
We stopped twice on our way to the Artist’s Paintpots,
where we took a 45-minute stroll, our first (and only) hike on this visit to The Park.
Next time, like I said before… we’ll make our hotel/ lodge reservations
in advance… as we had learned… there is no off-season in Yellowstone. Here are a series of pictures for
your enjoyment… of The Paintpots, and of some of the other things we saw that
morning. Yellowstone is not over rated.
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We’d entered The Park via the north-east entrance, exited
(and re-entered) through the south, and were now exiting via the west. Ed (White, the security guard) had told us
the east entrance and the ride over Chief Joseph Pass toward Cody was one not
to be missed, so now we have another reason to come back… as if we needed one.
It was only about 50 miles after we left West Yellowstone
that the highway turned into a four-lane road, with a speed limit of
70mph. After two days of 45mph… it
seemed like we were flying. But it was
gonna be a relatively long ride that day, so I was with ok it. The only stops we made over the last +/- 300
miles of the day were for gas, and a quick stop at Burger King, our first (and
most likely last) junk food of the trip.
It’s funny how good their junk tastes, if you don’t eat it very often.
Sharon’s ½-sister Frances, had gotten in touch with two of
their father’s brothers, so when we arrived at her house, we were warmly
greeted by family Sharon hadn’t seen in many years. Gale and Rex were wonderful, and shared
several cute and poignant stories about their brother Victor (who they called
Jay), and I noticed several times that Sharon’s eyes were watering as she
smiled, while listening to them. This
was now my highlight of the trip… watching my wife re-connect with family she’d
not seen in 40 years.
Left to right: Sharon, Gale, Carol (Rex’s wife), Rex,
Christy (Frances’ cousin), and Frances.
It was going to be an even longer ride the next day, and
the scenery was going to be far from what we’d been seeing since we’d last left
Nevada, so I excused myself at 8:30pm, and left the King Clan to continue their
loving encounter on their own. Sharon
joined me about an hour later, softly purring her gratitude for the chance to
be with her father’s brothers, as she cuddled up to me.
Highest elevation (after leaving Yellowstone) -
5,245’.
Miles of the day -
406.
Total for The Trip -
2,575.
Friday 9/14
4:55am – My inner alarm told me the one on my phone was
going to go off any minute, but I was too tired to get out of bed and turn it
off before it woke Sharon. Fortunately,
she is good at going back to sleep in the mornings, something that has always
been difficult for me. Once I wake up,
I’m usually too excited to start enjoying the day to go back to sleep
again. Plus… it takes about an hour or
so for the coffee to do its work, and I don’t like stopping on the road to
release my bowels. How’s THAT for an “…
and more” for you on my blog? Lol.
Sharon stirred at 6, we were eating breakfast at 7, and
Frances was taking some pictures of us loading Honey, and then riding off at
7:45. It was the earliest departure time
since Day One, and it was because we were gonna be doing the longest leg of the
trip, over 450 miles.
Our stop near Salt Lake City had required us to be on I-15
for over 200 miles yesterday, and another 100 or so this morning, but when we
took our exit to end that drudgery, we stopped (in Nephi) for breakfast, which
included another chocolate cream pie.
Wyoming was now the only State on our Trip where we hadn’t sampled that
dessert (as long as we don’t forget California). Sharon thought it was the best, but I thought
it was a close second to the one in Wells, NV.
It was during this next stretch of open/ flat desert that I
noticed something I’m sure I’d seen before, but couldn’t remember being aware
of. You know how sometimes it looks like
there’s water on the road in front of you, off in the distance? Well… for the first time (that I can
remember)… I saw the headlights of the oncoming vehicles reflecting off this
mirage. I pointed it out to Sharon, and
she said she could see it too. Whew… I
thought maybe I was having a mirage of a mirage.
Then it was time for Honey to take a short rest in the
shade as Sharon fetched us our afternoon beverage. It was hot, and the next leg of our ride was
going to be relatively scenery free.
About 15 miles out of that town (Ely, pronounced ee-lee) we saw a sign
we did not want to see. “Next Services
167 Miles.” I was counting on finding
gas at the only other town on the map between us and our last stop of the day
(Tonopah), but that was not going to be the case. I wondered to myself why they hadn’t put the
sign right at the city limits, so we could’ve brought just a little extra fuel
with us.
I told Sharon to hunch her head and body down low behind me
as much as possible, and I did the same thing behind Honey’s windshield. It was going to be close. Although Honey loves the thin mountain air…
in normal driving conditions, she gets about 35mpg, and being that her tank
holds 4.7 gallons… the sign and the associated math said we were going to be
2.5 miles short of the “Next Services.”
At our first stop to stretch, a tanker truck came out of
the desert to get on the highway. Sharon
walked over and asked the driver if we were gonna find any gas between us and
Tonopah. The driver told her we could
ask the folks at the refinery down the road, and they’d most likely help us
out.
As we approached the refinery, Sharon did something that
surprised the heck outta me, but also made me happy in my own weird way. I asked her if she was willing to risk
continuing down the road in our moderately uncomfortable hunched position, as
part of making this an adventure
ride. She didn’t hesitate a second, as
she said, “I’m with you sweetheart, I’ll go along with your decision.”
About 50 miles up the road, and coincidentally exactly
where there was a place to pull over and rest… we stopped to mark a noteworthy
event. It was the 3,000-mile mark of The
Ride. I’d done 3k several times and one
of my rides was over 4k, but this was about Sharon. My Motorcycle Momma was now going to get
pinned (when we got to our motel room that is).
I’m pretty good at math, and during the leg, I’d crunched
the numbers over and over in my head to be sure… as long as my (trip) odometer
got to 136 miles before I had to reach down and move Honey’s gas valve to
reserve… we would most likely make it.
At the 132 mile mark… I made the switch.
We hunkered down even more, and hoped for the best, but I’d noticed the
head wind strengthening over the last few minutes, and I wasn’t feeling overly
optimistic.
My first idea was to pull over and wait for a big rig
truck, or an RV to come by and pull in and draft behind it. We waited for about 15 minutes, without any
luck and finally decided to try to get in behind the next vehicle of any sort
that came by.
While we had been waiting on the side of the road, we’d
asked The Universe to have the wind die down, and to provide us with a truck or
an RV, and sure enough… it worked. After
the RV passed us, we added an addendum to our request: “Dear Universe, the RV needs to be going in
our direction.”
When the next vehicle came (going in our direction) we pulled
out as it approached… gently accelerated to about 55mph to allow it to catch up
and pass us… and then watched as it screamed past us going well over
80mph. Even if I could get in behind it,
it wouldn’t have been safe, and the gas I’d use trying to get to, and maintain
that speed would’ve made the attempt pointless, with the extra gas it would
take to do it.
About 10 minutes after failing at our attempt to draft off
a vehicle… our RV appeared… sitting still… in a rest stop… with a very nice
gentleman… and a 5-gallon gas can with about ½ gallon of gas in it. He’d just refilled the small SUV his wife was
driving, and had left just enough for us in the can.
We spent about 10 minutes chatting with Jessie and Ann
Morland, and then got back on the road, with a celebratory fast acceleration to
80mph with both of us sitting up straight and proud. About 5 minutes later, something strange happened. A strong gust of wind came out of nowhere and
hit us upside our heads. Honey lurched
to the right, and my helmet was knocked askew.
I knew instantly what it was. It
was The Universe, reminding us to give thanks for Its help. Our prayers had truly been answered. I inwardly thanked The Universe, and Jessie
and Ann, and got a very pleasant warm feeling all through my body (and again
now, as I write this).
We had a decent meal and both fell into bed, happy but
exhausted after the 478-mile day, and all its excitement. I told Sharon she’d have to wait until morning
for her excitement and the pinning I’d promised her, and she agreed without any
outward or apparent disappointment.
Highest elevation – 7,722’. Total Mileage for The Trip – 3,053.
Saturday 9/15
4:45am – I’d been hoping to sleep in a bit… today was going
to be less than ½ as many miles as the day before. We were going to have to go over a pass of
almost 10,000’, and I wanted the air to warm up a little before we got
there. But the thought of going through
the upcoming scenic terrain, and the thought of Sharon’s pinning ceremony, were
both too much for this little kid to sleep through. We were going to go over Tioga Pass and
through the High Country of Yosemite!
7am – Sharon awake.
8:45am – Off and away!
It was a quiet and somber ride for us that morning. Although Honey’s back is very comfortable, we
were both feeling the effects of the extended time we’d been in her saddle, and
all the miles we’d covered, but mostly… we were both aware that two days from
now… we’d be waking up in our own bed, at home in Santa Cruz, and then getting
up and going to work. We agreed… we were
both grateful and sad to be almost done with The Adventure. But it wasn’t over yet!
I’ve basically spent my entire life on Highway 120, but it
had always been between Lee Vining/ Mono Lake, and Escalon/ Stockton. I’d never been on the short section at the
eastern end. The ride from Benton Hot
Springs to Lee Vining was now the best road of The Trip! Besides the nicely banked turns and beautiful
mountainous scenery of the Eastern Sierras… it had a whole lot of dips and
bumps in it.
There’s a road between La Grange and Coulterville, Highway
132 in the (western) foothills of The Sierras that my youngest daughter Eron
coined, “The Roller Coaster Road.” Well,
Eron… this one is even better! Too bad
it doesn’t have a destination of anything to speak of at the other end of it,
but if you’re in the area… I highly recommend it. It is a joyous 25 miles or so.
We stopped for gas and an early lunch at Lee Vining, and
then added some layers and started up Tioga Pass to the eastern entrance of Yosemite
National Park. We stopped at the kiosk
for a photo op, and I told Sharon it always felt like I was coming home when I
got to this part of one of my Adventure Rides.
It made the end of The Adventure seem all that much closer. Yep, Yosemite is like my second home. It is always hard to drag me away. Get it?
Wild Horses (just outside Tonopah).
The song by the Rolling Stones… come on, that’s a good one!
The ride through The High Country continued to be peaceful
and quiet for us. What a glorious way to
end an Adventure Ride… this area is like another world… or maybe even like
heaven… I hope.
We got to the Tindal cabin around 4pm and took a short nap
before watching #21 Stanford beat #2 USC (yeay)… eat some dinner… and then hit
the hay at about 8:30pm. Sharon read for
a short time like she normally does, with me curled up against her. I guess I’m already in heaven aren’t I? J
Day 10: Highest
Elev. – 9.945’; The day’s ride – 244
miles; The total to date – 3,297.
Sunday 9/16
(also known as, “The last day of the trip”)
5:45am – Ned up. 7am
– Sharon smiles.
We took a stroll down to Stout Lake, located on the
property behind a gate at the end of the dirt and gravel road outside of
Greeley Hill, about 45 minutes from The Park entrance. My family used to be one of the five families
who owned the property, but even though we no longer have legal rights, the other
families still like to have us visit and enjoy the place, especially the
Tindal/ Witts who own the cabin we stay at when we visit.
As we were walking back from the lake, Sharon asked me an
interesting question. She asked, “When
you’re here… floating on the lake… and you’re allowing yourself to go off into
your deep subconscious… how old are you?”
I had to think for a while… I’d been coming here for 42 years… from the
time I was 13 years old. How old was I,
when I was daydreaming here? My answer…
“When I’m here but not here… I’m ageless and timeless.”
The picture to the right of the cabin is of an oak tree,
which reminds me of me. It’s hard to
tell the scale from the picture, but the (almost dead) trunk is about five feet
in diameter. It had been a large,
healthy tree and then almost died, but somehow survived and is now young and
thriving again. Before I met Sharon, I’d
gone through some very tough times, and wasn’t sure I would ever thrive
again. Thankfully I recovered, and am
now healthier than ever before. Thank
you Gaeir for helping me re-connect with The Universe (the term I choose as an
alternative to “God”). And thank you
Sharon, for coming into my life at the correct time of my life.
8:30am – Off and away.
As we were riding down the hill into Coulterville at the
base of The Western Foothills of The Sierras… we had another meaningful
event. Ever since I was a kid, I’d
always thought that the property at Stout Lake was an area where I could be
happy living full time, when I reached a certain age. I asked Sharon if she could ever consider
living there, and she said yes without hesitation.
Now… for the first time in many years… ever since I had to
sell my family home in La Selva Beach after my second divorce… I have a defined
goal/ dream for my life. We will buy a
home in Santa Cruz… live there until retirement
age… then sell it, and buy property in the Greeley Hill (Groveland)
area. We will then turn that home into a
B & B and B. A Bed and Breakfast for
Bikers (motorcyclists). Oh… and the home
we sell in Santa Cruz will have a ‘granny unit’ on the property, that we will
still have rights to stay in, as part of the agreement when we sell it. Dream defined, let the manifestation begin.
Our next stop was at Lake McClure. I’d rode (or driven) past it too many times
to count, but this time we stopped at Horseshoe Bend Recreational Area. When I took Honey down to the water line so
she could put her hooves in the water, we were about 50’ below the high water
line (on a good year).
We had a nice breakfast in Merced, and then drove another
30 miles or so to our last gas stop of The Adventure. The previous stop for gas had been in Lee
Vining, on the east side of the Sierras, and after a short 12-mile ride up to the
summit on Tioga Pass, the bulk of the ride that followed was almost all down
hill. When I filled Honey’s tank, I did
the math… it was the best mileage of The Trip, 46 mpg. If only we’d been able to get that mileage
when we needed it coming into Tonopah.
No… wait… if we had… we wouldn’t have had a chance to coast
into the rest stop out in the middle of the Nevada desert and meet Jessie and
Ann. Yep… I don’t call my rides
Adventure Rides for nothin’ ya know.
As we came over Hecker Pass, past Mt. Madonna and down to
sea level… the coastal air was finally cool enough to put on something over our
t-shirts. Before we put our hoodies back
on, I took a picture. Yep… it’s no
mystery… Honey and Sharon and I are made for each other.
It’s hard to see in
the picture, but we’re making our trademark heart hand sign.
After stopping at Gayle’s Bakery in Capitola for the fifth
chocolate cream pie in six different States (we missed Wyoming), we decided
that even though Wells, Nevada was otherwise a town to be forgotten… its
chocolate cream pie was the best. Well…
I decided that anyway… Sharon voted for the one in Nephi, UT. We’ll be arguing about that one for years I’m
sure… pending further research.
We were parked and unloading Honey at 3pm after 11 glorious
days on The Road. Adventure Ride
complete, totally successful.
“Victorious,” according to Sharon.
I agreed with her about that… but not the pie.
205 miles for the
day.
3,502 miles for The
Adventure.
