Fun Roads and Finally Home!

Day 5- Last day of consecutive bike trip.

Woke up pretty early. I think we timed the previous day perfectly- we got to the good riding late enough that traffic was at a minimum, and by the looks of the amount of bikes at both ends of this stretch of road, it would have been jam packed during the day.

Hog Catcher, lookin a little tired but ready for the day.



Road a short distance, to the Top of the World.



And of course, Road construction.



Gave us an opportunity to look around so we did. Pretty place!







The pilot car finally showed up. The guy told us it would be 20 more minutes before we could go, pulled over, and promptly fell asleep. We un-geared and went on a quick little hike up the mountain.

Little ways up,





Still going,





Running out of time.



View from the top.



Back down at the bottom. We went up to the top there in the middle.



Got to do a short stretch of dirt riding,



And then we were off! Look what we get to go up!!!



At the top!





Coming down was real fun too. Longish straight stretch followed by a 180 degree hairpin turn. Repeat 6 or 7 times.









Finally down out of the fun stuff.





Red Lodge, MT. Pansy Harley riders had to use hotels.



Apparently was some sort of rally going on, because the town was litterally end to end bikes, the entire length of both sides of the main road.



Past Red Lodge you get into your more typical Montana:



Still fun though.



Went up to Columbus, got on the interstate and road to Bozeman. At Bozeman, we dropped down onto the back highways again and went through the corner of Yellowstone where we had the luck to almost rear end some looki-loo's around a blind corner that stopped to admire the scenery.



Kept on keepin' on, went through West Yellowstone and hit Island Park.



My brothers mother-in-law's (ex)store that the new "owner" had a small accident with. We'll leave it at that.



After an uneventful trip down through St. Anthony we made it back to Rigby, unloaded Steveo's crap, and took one last shot on the hog.



Road with him down to the Harley shop, dropped it off, and went on my way. 25 more miles! Butt was getting pretty sore by this point.

Lava's, that means I'm only about 15 miles away!



MY EXIT!!!! TWO MORE MILES!!!



WHoooly cow, I made it!



Odo at the end:



Map for the day:



Totals for the day:

Odo start: 58,173
Odo end: 58,616
Total Day 3: 443 miles.

TOTAL: 1,921 miles.

Money spent (Gas, Lunch, Gas, stuff): Estimated $60. Was so tired when I got home I didn't fill out my log.

What REAL winding road's look like!

Day 4.

Got a pretty late start today. My brother had to take his son in for a dentist appt., so we didn't end up leaving Rigby until about 11:00 a.m. I was running on fumes, but it was all good- went 5 miles to Ririe, got gas, and got on our way up to Jackson.

Yes, that is my low fuel light on...



Really love this part of the ride- the rolling wheat fields remind me of home, except for the rolling part.



Somewhere near the summit of the road to Jackson, WY.





Not sure if this vid will work but we'll give it a try.



Not bad for an over-the-shoulder without looking shot, eh?





Made it in to Jackson, bought some lunch to go at the grocery store, and stopped at the Harley store so my bother could hardley-ize my bike...



Gremlin bell! Should be safe now.

Hey! I can see your Teton's from here!



That's me.



Entrance to Teton National Park.



Lotsa pretty scenery.



Another over the shoulder shot, but I got the camera right side up for this one.





Ah yes, Yellowstone park. I think it's more fun to watch the people watching the animals than it is to stop and watch the animals.



Yellowstone Lake, on the West side.



Yellowstone lake somewhere over on the East side...



Aaannnnndddd, more road construction. This was the longest, slowest and probably most boring part of the entire trip- going through the parks. We stopped somewhere in Teton Park for lunch near a lake. Met some fellow riders who had ridden all the way from Quebec and were tooling around the park. Had a decent visit with them, but I really wanted to "Le meillier bonjour" them. Having grown up in Canada, the limit of my French was what I read off of the cereal box every morning.

FINALLY starting to get FUN again. Nearing the East Yellowstone park entrance (exit).





That'd be fun to climb!



I should also mention that by this point, my brother, who had not worn his jacket or any sunscreen for the first 5 hours of riding, was pretty sun burnt. His face looked like a red racoon, and his elbow-pits were bright pink and apparently very sore.



Stopped at some random gas station just outside of the park. See? Even the DOG likes my bike more than Harley's!



'Bout to get more fun. Buffalo Bill state park near Cody, WY.



And then a looooonnnnggg tunnel, with 2 more short ones right after it! Of course my brother had to braaappp the Harley the entire way through. Longshots are loud.









Those didn't work out so great but you get the idea.

What would a trip be to Wyoming with a stop for fireworks?



We stopped several different places in Cody- and made sure to pick up sunscreen and aloe vera for my poor burnt bro.

Only in Wyoming...



Wild West shoot out.



One of these bikes just aint like the others, one of them bikes just isn't the same...



Gettin late. TIME TO GO!

Here's where it gets REALLLLL fun.

Chief Joseph Highway outside of Cody.









At the top!



What we're about to go through.



Made it down through most of the fun stuff. Did I mention the speed limit on this road is 70 mph!?



Sun's settin, need to get there!





Whew. Finally there, at 8:00 in the evening. Stayed at Lake Creek campground, right at the base of Chief Joseph Highway where it joins the Beartooth Highway.






No water at this campsite, but they do have bear boxes. We had a few different forms of deterrent with us anyways so we weren't all that worried.

Beautiful creek roaring by the campground.









Moonrise again. Few bikes went by after dark but it got reaaalll quite.



We made freeze dried dinners for our meal. I left my fork in the package, then used the package as a garbage can, then threw it out. Realized what I'd done but figured I was done cooking meals anyways, so no big loss. Steveo decided that the fork HAD to be rescued.

Sound's good. You climb in the dumpster, I'll take pics!





Attempted some long exposure shots.





Moonlit bridge.



End of the day.



Map of the days trip:



and in case you missed the awesome-ness of Chief Joseph Highway, here it is:

Totals for the day:

Odo start: 57,837
Odo end: 58,173
Total Day 3: 336 miles.
TOTAL: 1,478 miles.

Money spent (Gas, Lunch, Gas, Campground, Park Entry, Map): $87.51

Ouch. Expensive day.