466.9 miles.

West Yellowstone, MT to Moses Lake, WA

Note: I took a scenic bypass in Idaho so my miles will differ greater than Kent and Troy’s.

I remember when I was little on a road trip to our cabin in Utah that my father took us to a truck stop on the North side of Las Vegas.  I ate biscuits and gravy for first time.  I remember really liking it, and from that point forward it was always like “oh, this place serves biscuits and gravy” if I ate at a place with it on the menu - like they were special.

If this trip has taught me anything, it is that biscuits and gravy are not special.

It must be the cheapest thing to prepare and keep around because just about every hotel from every chain has biscuits and gravy as their “hot breakfast”.

After 20 days I can hardly stand the sight of them.

I will never order biscuits and gravy off a menu again.

Don’t Forget To Look Up.

Riding at night you get focused in on headlights and taillights.  Being out on the open highway away from cities the night sky starts to fill with stars.

Somewhere between Spokane and Moses Lake I looked up and saw the big dipper bigger than I ever had before.  I pulled off at the next exit which was nothing more than a field and took this photo.

Note: It looked better in the camera view finder else I would have taken a 2nd shot.

Idaho.

It took 19 days and 36 states to get here, but we finally had a chance to ride through my home state of Idaho.

The I-90 only has about 75 miles of Idaho to offer it’s passengers. That wasn’t enough for me. So I took the scenic bypass #3 & #97 and added a few hours to my day, but with great views of Coeur d’Alene Lake and the surrounding mountains.

On the road again.

406.6 miles

Buffalo, WY to West Yellowstone, MT via Big Horn and Yellowstone National Parks

This plate is what Erik has been chasing down for the whole ride and in the background is the bike that his wife wants never to see again.

Oh well,  Bikes will come and go.  Memories are forever.  (even the memory his wife has of riding 800 miles in one day)(would you want that bike in your garage?)

Eat Sleep Ride

Beartooth Pass

What an excellent road.

The guys at the Tail of the Dragon may think that they have the best road.  Theirs is good but NOTHING to the Beartooth pass.  This road must have taken 10 years to build.  Then they almost have to rebuild parts of it every year because of the extreme weather.  http://www.beartoothhighway.com/

Thanks road workers.

Eat Sleep Ride

Days before we started the ride I looked at the route and the miles and wondered if we were going to get up the 3rd or 4th day and look at each other and say: “I’m not doing this any more”.

The plan was 22 days and average 550 miles a day.  Very do-able in a car but maybe a bit much for a bike that has to stop for gas every 200 miles and butts that need bloodflow every hour.

Well…………..I has turned into a love hate situation.  While just waking up I think that there is no way that I can get back on the bike but I get up and pack anyway.

Then within the first 10 minutes of riding the feeling comes back:  “I’m the luckiest guy in the world right now.  I get to ride through this GREAT  country of ours and see what we have been blessed with.  I think back of all the ground we have covered and all those who have made it possible for us to do it. First is my wife who didn’t look at me with that look and say: “Where are you going to get the $$?”.  Second, all the people who assembled my FLAWLESS  motorcycle in Marysville Ohio.  Third,  all the people who carved the miles and miles of roads throughout this FANTASTIC country.  Forth,  All those people who farm so we can eat, make dams and hydroelectric power plants, etc.  etc.  You get the idea.

It is like being a chocolate lover and having signed up to eat chocolate 22 days in a row and after the 4th day questioning if you want any more,  but after that first smell in the morning„„  YOU GOTTA HAVE IT.

Bon Appetit

Eat Sleep Ride

Since Erik is the photographer I’ll just toss out some thoughts.

7:50AM Sunday.

I did get the address of the local church but my riding partners have not cut up all that wood and are still “Sawing Logs”.

During the 36 months of preparations I sent a lot of stuff to all those who said that they wanted to go.  One of the items was a list of questions regarding your personal riding style.  Some like to get up early,  some like to get up late.  Some bikes can only go 100 miles so there are a lot of gas stops, others (Troy) can go over 250 miles.  Some like to ride then eat breakfast at 10AM, etc.

I think our group did fill out the survey and we sent our answers to each other.  If the others were like me they didn’t give it much thought.  Now I realize that it is very important if you were just to meet up with others to ride.  It doesn’t matter with this group because we are friends first and riding buddies second.

My planning was to get up early and get 1/2 of the days riding done in the cool of the morning…….Yeah Right.  I think over half of our check-ins were after 10PM but those were the days we made good miles in the dark with no traffic. What a great ride.

Eat Sleep Ride