Day #12 Aug 4, 2007

Day #12

Saturday

August 4, 2007

0 miles today

2770 miles total

Got to bed late last night after arriving here about 7:00 or so.

So good to finally be here. And I don't have to set up and tear

down everyday. That's a welcome break! They are so gracious

to me, too! Great hosts!

Went to Terry's Sat. AM prayer group with a couple of

other guys from his church. After that and breakfast, the

Kraus family and I took a ride up into the surrounding hills.

We went to Bishop's Castle, a rock "castle" being built by a

local eccentric, which sits on government land as I

understand it. What a site! I guess the guy has been

working on it since the early 70's. He posts his political views

about the government on several large signs around the site.

Later in the day we drove into Peublo to get some supplies.

We met Amber (their daughter) at Borders and chatted for

over an hour. In the meantime, the rain blew in and we drove

home in a downpour. By the time we got to their home in Rye, CO

the rain had quit. We spent the evening after dinner just visiting

and catching up since it had been a couple of years since we'd

been together.

Day #11 Aug 3, 2007

Day #11

Friday August 3rd, 2007

Steamboat Springs, CO to Pueblo, CO

322 miles today (16, 557 - 16,879)

2770 miles total

Spent the night at Steamboat Springs in the "no name"

Simpson's motel! The rain woke me up at 2:11 AM, just pouring

down. I later heard it rained 5" in Fort Collins last night. Some of

the motels actually had to move guests from the ground floor.

And to think Fort Collins was where I wanted to be, but called it

a day early after the rain started up! Once again, God looks out

for His children...even those on motorcycles far from home!

The day got off in good fashion after meeting/visiting with a guy

from Wisconsin. Something he said tipped me off that he was a

believer. We talked of our faith for a few minutes and just shared

some of our on the road experiences for 10-15 minutes.

I road in foggy conditions all the way to Granby, which is just

outside the southwestern border of Rocky Mtn. Nat'l Park.

This would be my gas stop so I wouldn't have to buy EXPENSIVE

gas inside the park. As I pulled away, or got ready to, I noticed

I had NO LIGHTS! Oh oh. No headlamp, no passing lamps.

The park would have to wait for me.

I went to breakfast close by, where I poured over my service

manual and read about fuses, bulbs and schematics. Let me

reiterate...I AM NO MECHANIC! This is going to be interesting.

I pulled the fuse box cover after breakfast and discovered a

blown head lamp circuit fuse. Then it just starts to sprinkle.

I remembered seeing the auto parts store down the street.

I bought fuses and headed to the CAR WASH I had just passed

after breakfast. I spent the next 2+ hours in the car wash,

pulling bulbs, blowing fuses, reading the manual and talking to

JON HARDISTY, my very own "on the road Yamaha tech!"

THANKS JON!!!!!

I finally discovered that the rain last night had shorted out the

passing lamps switch. Once I cut the switch out, wired the lamps

direct to the headlamp circuit, everything worked just fine.

But my time for going through Rocky Mtn. Nat'l Park was spent

viewing the inside of the pull through car wash and the service

manual. Oh well...God's plans directing my steps I guess.

So it's on to Pueblo, CO.

The ride over the Berthoud Pass (11,315 ft) was "adventoursome"

to say the least. 15 mph switchbacks, very overcast skies, and

eventually rain. I pulled a LOT of it in 2nd gear! I had a backpacker

at the top make my picture by the marker.

Once I got down out of the mountain pass, the sun was shining and

the temp was climbing again. I-70 took me just west of Denver

where I stopped for lunch near Golden, CO. Two guys in a van

pulled up just to see what my story was. They had been to Sturgis

many times in the past, but this year were going to Portland, OR

for a change. They were glad to prep me on the Sturgis thing.

It's always good to talk to someone who has actually been to the

next place I am heading. Usually, the locals know how to get there!

After refueling me and the bike, I was Peublo bound.

A warm sunny afternoon did not do enough to disipate the

aggravation I felt as soon as I hit I-25. Bumper to bumper,

3 lanes, and we were creeping along. 2 miles, 5 miles, 10 miles

then finally 11 miles before it broke free. And the accident wasn't

even on the southbound side. It was on the northbound side!

Some truckers talked about it as I listened in on the CB, the traffic

eventually backed up over 30 miles to the south of the accident!

As I recall, it involved 3 semi trucks and 7 autos, including one

state police car. What a mess!

In Colorado Springs, I took a real quick side trip to see the

Focus on the Family headquarters. They were closing in 5 minutes,

so my visit was brief. Pueblo was getting closer. I rolled in just

before 7PM. Glad to have finally made it. It's been a long, long day.

With the mechanical troubles, the rain and the freeway hangups,

all made me glad to be "home" for the night.

Day #10 Aug 2, 2007

Day 10
Thursday August 2nd, 2007

Landers, WY – Steamboat Springs, CO
294 miles today (16,263 – 16,557)
2548 miles total

1 new state: Colorado

6 states total

5:30 AM Woke up to a DRY morning after a rainy night.
Clouds were still present, but the sun was shining off in the east. Made 2 pictures.

8:15 AM Nearly ready to go. Got to visiting with "MIKE" next door. He is a retired 62 year old.
Each summer he comes west from Michigan to rock climb in the Grand Tetons. He was happy to see someone (ME) pursuing a dream. He said so few do these days.

After gassing up, I didn't get out of town till nearly 9:15. The ride through the rest of Wyoming was typical of Wyoming. It was beautiful in it's own way, but it just gets old quick.
I did see some unique rock formations. One was called "Split Rock."

Once I got to Rawlins, I had to turn west on I-80. I just hate the interstate.

Too many trucks, too much traffic. I have to ride I-25 southbound tomorrow from

Denver to Pueblo.

I wanted to take a picture of the "Welcome to Colorado" sign, but it was over the crest of a hill and there was traffic behind me. The scenery changed a little from Wyoming to Colorado. Things began to green up a little. A lot of John Denver songs came to mind. I have GOT to get an Ipod...singing to myself is getting old, and I can't remember all the words!

As I got 20 miles or so outside (west of) Steamboat Springs, the sky ahead was REALLY dark and the wind was really kicking up! Five minutes later the rain started. I had to suit up and drive at 40-45 mph. I had to pull off and let traffic pass twice.

After checking out a couple of campgrounds with NO cover, I am staying in Steamboat Springs in a REAL rundown motel. NO internet at all. It smells. But, I can shower and park the bike right out side. It was raining still when I pulled in and several motels already had

NO VACANCY signs out. Thought I'd better take what I could get!!

I'm not a huge "Simpsons" fan, but the guy behind the counter of the motel reminded me of the school janitor (?) on the show. He had a thick Swedish accent, a heavy beard, a flannel shirt and kept telling me "NO vomen in the room, buddy!"

It looks like tomorrows ride is going to be another long one. Pueblo is a LONG way away. I feel "pressured" to get there. When Sturgis is over, I can meander my way through the rest of the states. Because I can only get to the Kraus's house on the weekend, I've had to adjust my schedule and itinerary. I hope our visit is a good one.

I have done nearly 2600 miles so far.
I am going to turn in early, get up early, and hit the road.
I've got to get through Rocky Mtn Natl Park AND on my way to

Pueblo by noon. I hope the rain holds off.

JB..from the road.

Day #9 Aug 1, 2007

Day 9
Wednesday August 1, 2007

Billings, MT to Landers, WY
358 miles today(15,905 – 16,263) today
2154 miles total

1 new state today, Wyoming

5 states total

6:15 AM
Packed, hitched up, ready to go.

8:46 AM
Rode to Red Lodge, MT. for breakfast at Hank’s Place. The temp is COOL as I get out of Billings and head toward the mountain pass.

Getting excited about the accent over the Bear Tooth Pass.
I have wanted to RIDE this on a bike ever since last year when Nat and I drove over it. We drove south to north, and I’m going the reverse direction. Lots of bikes in Red Lodge, even at this hour of the morning.

11:30 AM

Wow! The pass was AWESOME! The views were fantastic…beautiful…spectacular! So awesome. And pulling the trailer was no problem whatsoever. At the first bathroom stop, there must have been 25-30 bikes there. I got LOTS of inquiries about the trailer. One guy said they’d been considering one, but had never seen one up close. He was very glad for the 15 minutes we spent discussing it.

For 3 days I’ve tolerated/endured the heat. Today, I was actually cool! Wow! More contrasts. I never went into Yellowstone, as Nat and I were here a year ago. Instead, I took the Chief Joseph scenic highway back to Cody, WY. This is WY route 296 located at the northeast corner of Yellowstone Nat'l Park. Most scenic ride of my trip to date. How did we miss this road last year? Again, there was so much contrast on this road. There were beautiful green valleys. There were hard, sharp rock formations. And then there were the colors of the rock. The rock formations varied from gray, brown, white and then some very red and pink shades.
I will get some pictures on here when I can figure out HOW!

After getting to Cody, restocking the debit card and refueling, I headed southeast toward Thermopalis. The skies were darkening. Oh oh. I had not run into rain yet, but that was about to change. I suited up outside of Cody. I passed several bikers who decided to chance beating the rain. They didn't.

The Wyoming landscape in this part of the state is sure desolate. A breakdown out here might entail a long, long wait for help. The overcast sky provided some great relief to the days of heat I'd been riding in. And the dark skies were just more contrast to the bright blue skies with the sun bearing down on me.

I made Riverton, WY after 4PM, stopped for groceries for dinner later on, and eventually stopped in Lander, WY for the night after 6:30. The mom and pop campground was no KOA, but it was CHEAP and provided a place to stay for the night. The lady at the desk was the owner. We talked shop a while. EX-business owners (me!) just can't help but inquire about "how's business" everywhere they go!

Light rain eventually drove me inside the tent to finish dinner.

Tomorrow I go onward toward Rocky Mtn. Nat'l Park!

Day #8 July 31, 2007

Day 8
Tuesday July 31, 2007

Billings, MT to Billings, MT
24 miles today (15,881 – 15,905)
1886 miles total

7:17 AM
At Denny’s for breakfast. Woke up early, about 4:30. It was just too hot to sleep.
I can stay 2 nights here in the KOA for LESS than 1 night in the motel. This place has the nicest bathrooms/showers I’ve ever seen for a campground. Each bathroom (10 in the building) behind a locking door has it’s own vanity w/sink, toilet and urinal, hand dryer, nice LARGE shower and a bench to sit on. This bathroom is as large as our bath room at home!

I think I’m going to have the hit the road earlier when the weather is warmer. I’m going to have to work on that.

12:00 noon
Got all my errands run by 10:30! Breakfast at Denny’s, WalMart, the local Yamaha shop and a side trip to the “animal foundary.”

I bought a bike cover at the Yamaha shop so I can use my large tarp for rain cover over the tent. I found out the neighbors “next door” are from Nashville, TN and Fargo, ND. They are all here to open up a branch for their work.

2:36 PM
Got all my supplies put away and the trailer loaded up for tomorrow.

4:15 PM
I finished up the laundry. Sat by the pool, updated my debit ledger while clothes washed and dried. Terribly hot day to be running things through the dryer! Time to think about dinner. The trout was SO GOOD last night, I think it will be an easy decision, not to mention it is still so STINKIN’ HOT, too hot for ME to cook!

Day #7 July 30, 2007

Day 7
Monday July 30, 2007

Bozeman, MT to Billings, MT
178 miles today (15,703 – 15,881)
1862 miles total

8:41 AM
I’m packed and loaded, showered and had my breakfast. This is a very nice park. There was a nice sunrise to start out the day. I slept good, but my back is “tight” today. I have been stretching, but I think I’d welcome a break in a motel.
I’m going to Billings today. I hope to see Gerald and Kathy, the owners of Big Sky Wood Products, a good vendor for me when I owned Royal Awards.

11:31 AM
Stopped for gas at Big Timber, about an hour or so west of Billings. Pulled off and some good Samaritans were helping a lady push her car to the gas station. She was still 50 yards away from the pump and needed some gas to get her there. She had run out coming off the exit ramp and had been pushed to this point. There I was, with my gas can to help a stranger. So my gas cans have helped me and helped someone else. Several guys on my pre-trip planning blogs asked why I would carry extra gas. THIS is the reason. She was grateful and refilled my can.

12:30PM
I stopped in Laurel, MT to see Gerald and Kathy.
Mary, the saleslady that helped us, has left (on good terms) to work her farm with her husband. Lisa, who was new to us, works elsewhere, but still does marketing for Big Sky. Kathy was not there and I stayed less than 10 minutes. I was sweating, standing there in leathers.

I got to Billings where it was HOT! Later on I would see a reader board showing 109 degrees. Surely a mistake I thought. But then just a few blocks away I saw another one showing 105. I stopped at a motel off the freeway, but just didn’t want to pay the nearly $100 for a room. I gassed up, had lunch at Applebee’s, and checked out the Billings motel map and directory. After 2 more motel drive bys and another camp ground, I settled on the KOA down by the Yellowstone River. I later learned this was the #1 KOA in the KOA system. I think it was 1967 when it was first franchised.

I checked in at 3:30PM. It’s now 5PM and I’ll eat dinner here at their own onsite kitchen/pavilion. Trout is on the menu! Yum. Tomorrow I plan on staying put. The heat over the last 2-3 days has taken it’s toll on me. I won’t pull the trailer. I’ll re-supply and look for a bike cover and a sheepskin seat cover. Mal-Wart will be on my list too.

Tomorrow I’ll have to decide about a) going on to Sturgis or b) going south to Pueblo to visit with Terry and Laurie Kraus.

6:40PM
Have swam, twice! Plugged in the laptop to charge and went to dinner. I had trout, corn on the cob, potato salad and baked beans. Lemonade and Texas toast rounded out the dinner menu. This was so good! Beats my “canned dinners” by a long shot!! I met 4 bikers from Hawaii, of all places. They were on their way to Sturgis. I didnt' get a chance to ask, but I guess they shipped their bikes to the mainland.

I look forward to not breaking camp in the morning. Staying here for 2 nights, even with good dinners, cost LESS than one night in a motel.

9PM
The neighbors finally showed up; 3 guys packing in LOTS of beer. Great..I pray they are quiet. It’s been a long, hot day. I rested a little next to the pool today, but will try to get caught up tomorrow.

Day #6 July 29, 2007

Day 6
Sunday July 20, 2007

Whitefish, MT to Bozeman, MT
316 miles today (15,387 – 15,703)
1684 miles total

I awoke to a beautiful and cool Sunday morning. I have 400+ miles to ride and am going to have to get with it if I’m going to make it to Billings. I want to see Gerald and Kathy at Big Sky tomorrow.

I traveled the most beautiful highway today. The Rocky Mountains were all around me.
See the map for MT Hwy 83 southeast of Whitefish. Great pavement, very little traffic, and fantastic views. After several hours of riding, I got almost to Avon, MT and was fearful of running out of gas, so I decided to fill from one of my extra cans. I didn’t want to run the carbs dry and have to worry about priming them or something like that. After gassing up (odom 15,571), turning the fuel valve to RUN, and getting half a mile down the road, the bike starts sputtering like it’s running out of gas! What?? I switched to reserve, and it would run fine. I was only 30 miles out of Helena, MT so I rode on reserve to there. Several times I would switch to RUN, and the same thing would occur. I had time to diagnose the problem in my mind and would confirm with Jon Hardisty (my own personal "on the road" motorcycle mechanic) once I reached Helena.

1:15 PM. Hit Helena, MT and it was cooking. Right at 100 degrees. I headed indoors for lunch
where I looked up local bike shops. Of course, everyone was closed until TUESDAY! This was going to have to be a self fix. One of the cooks, who was taking a smoke break out back, directed me to a city park after lunch where I could park in the shade and work on the fuel issue. Called Steve Goddard, then Jon and shared my concerns about trash in the fuel screen. Jon told me how to drop the fuel petcock, and along with my service manual, I discovered the RUN intake screen just wrapped with plastic. Black plastic strips from the new fuel can I brought. Well, that’s a lesson learned: always flush out NEW fuel cans. By 3:30 I was on my way again.

I arrived at the Bozeman KOA just a few minutes before 6PM. Got set up and had my swim trunks on in 15 minutes. This was a really nice facility. Probably the nicest I would stay in. The pool was brand new, and huge. I also sat in the hot tub for a little while and visited with a couple from Michigan. They were both teachers and travel every summer.
Last year, or two years ago, they had been to Bend and Sisters, Oregon and had ridden over the McKenzie Pass. They stayed a while at a RV park in Cottage Grove and really liked it. Their Harley had broken down up a canyon between Bozeman and Yellowstone. He waited with the bike while she hitched a ride back to town and got the HD dealer on the way for a tow. They were picking the bike up tomorrow and then heading home.

Saw some great views today coming out of Whitefish, but the fuel valve issue gave me a scare.