norton’s world

I’m in Green River, WY today. No pictures to post tonight — I have literally hundreds of pictures to sort through, edit and resize before I can do that.

The weather gods were with me again today. I was surrounded by storms in Wyoming but barely got wet at all. Mostly just ran over wet roads. Man, I finally stopped and geared up about 20 miles north of Rock Springs. It was unreal and indescribable. It was like I was participating in some special effects for a movie. I was riding south on 191 for Rock Springs. I had dawdled so long in the parks, (as usual,) and decided that instead of the more scenic route I had laid out, I would run WOT down 191 to Rock Springs, jump on the interstate west for 12 miles and be in Green River by 6:30. I was about 20 miles out from the interstate and I had been watching this one massive cloud with about three or four separate areas of heavy activity. Now these clouds are all a dark purple-black color with black fogs under them in the spots where it was raining. To my right, had been mostly sunshine all afternoon, with this bank of clouds to the south/southeast. The road would curve more to the west and I would say, “Ahhhhh,” then it would curve back more to the south and I would say, “Ohhhhh.” All the time I had been watching this I had seen like a white cloud or mist at the western-most edge. As I meandered more and more south and west I found myself approaching this western edge and I began to notice spectacular cloud-to-ground lightning in the dark clouds behind the white mist. As I got closer I began having a hard time understanding what I was seeing. There was obviously a serious thunderstorm raging behind that white wall, but it was the white wall that had my attention now. It was not a mist, or a cloud. It looked more like the curl of a killer wave on the beaches of Hawaii, though I’m sure much, much higher. It looked like a wall of heavy rain, (but it was white, not like everything else I was seeing,) and it looked like it was being blown hard by a wind coming from the west, causing it to bow back int the middle so that the whole “storm” or whatever was in the shape of a letter “C”. Water seemed to be sliding down the inside of the C shape and there even looked to be some turbulence at the bottom. I kept watching this and watching this, thinking that I may get far enough south before it hit 191 from the east that I would be past it. As topped a hill I saw that it wasn’t to be, as the road was curving back to the left again. I found a place to pull over and geared up, sure that the storm would be on me just any second now, it was so close. When I got everything buttoned up and got on my bike to go again, I couldn’t see the white wall anymore. There were still plenty of rain showers around, but no white wall of water and no lightning. I didn’t question my good fortune, I just jumped back on and hammered it some more. Got to Green River at 7:10 local time, dirty and tired, and only a little wet.

Day 1 – Jude cannot get an Internet connection at his hotel in Brownfield tonight. He will catch up tomorrow.

Day 1– I learned a couple of things today, maybe more. The summary of today’s lessons is that if you’re going to go through all the trouble to make detailed travel plans (and not everyone does,) you probably should stick with them because you probably needed them in the first place. I’ll get to the lessons themselves shortly.

At the last minute before I left yesterday morning, I decided I didn’t want to go through Austin so I plotted another course that would take me on a more northerly course at first, and away from the big city of Austin. I didn’t plan this, but it just so happened that this route would put me in Lexington about the time that Snow’s BBQ (voted #1 in Texas by several magazines,) opened up at 8AM. So guess what was for breakfast?

Smoked brisket, coleslaw, potato salad, charro beans, pickles, onion and bread. And a big ol’ glass of sweet tea. I didn’t need to eat again until night time.

So, breakfast being done, I was off again. Not a lot of eye candy in this part of the country, other than some nice architecture in Georgetown, but I didn’t take any pictures here. However, the day was not without its own thrills, of a sort. Now on to the day’s lessons.

Lesson number one: There’s always time to stop and look at The Map. See, I’ve always been of a mind that, time sitting still is time wasted. I’ve always been a gas ‘n go kind of guy. I don’t smoke, so I don’t need smoke breaks. I can fill up and be gone in under five minutes. If I need something from inside the store, it’s fifteen minutes tops. I make my cheat sheet every morning so I don’t have to pull over and look at The Map. Sometimes I do, just to get oriented and to look at distances, but most of the time, not. So according to my cheat sheet, I was to take 183 out of Georgetown all the way to Early, TX where I was to take 67 to Coleman. So, I got to Early, fueled up and hopped on 67. Now, I’m going to the Pacific Northwest, right. So it’s generally safe to assume that I’m either gonna be going North, or I’m gonna be going West, right? Lesson number two: North is not always north. I hopped on 67 North and after about 30 miles I thought, “Hmmm, something doesn’t seem right. Where are the towns I’m supposed to be seeing? Where’s Brownwood? Where’s Santa Anna? But I was on by-God 67 N and that’s what my cheat sheet said. PNW, right? North and West, right? Finally, after about 105-110 miles, I was seeing TCU flags flying all over the place. I thought maybe it was high time to consult The Map. It wouldn’t take long, I could put my mind at ease with the knowledge that I was indeed on the right course, (North and West, right?) and I just happened to be in an area with a disproportionate number of TCU fans. I saw a picnic area with a nice big shade tree and pulled over. I opened up my new 2010 Rand McNalley Atlas and started tracing the towns I had passed through… Comanche, Dublin, Stephenville, which I had just passed about 40 miles back. Wait a minute! I was going north alright… NORTHEAST!!!! I was about forty miles short of Ft. Worth. Maybe farther, but a helluva lot closer than I had ever planned to be on this trip. I was actually supposed to leave out of Early on 67 SOUTH! Soooo…. I said to hell with the scenic route and caught the Interstate. I lost about 3-1/2 hours and burned an extra tank of fuel. I left the house with 80,074.0 on the clock and ended the day at my planned destination of Brownview, TX with 80,766.9 for a total of 692.9 miles on the day.

I’ve always wanted to see the Llano Estacado — maybe not as dramatic or interesting as the mountains in the west, but I’ve always been interested to see the escarpments where the depths of the earth have thrust their way to the surface. I began to see the escarpments in the distance, getting closer little be little as is the case in flat country where you can see for miles and miles. As I got closer I started seeing features at the upper edge of the escarpments that did not belong there. You can’t really see it in this picture, but I could see it from this distance.

What’s this? Hundreds and hundreds of cell phone towers? I was outraged. How could anyone allow the stark beauty of this natural wonder be ruined in such a fashion? Where were the treehuggers when you really needed them? But as I got closer I became even more outraged. They weren’t cell phone towers, they were freaking windmills!!!! The treehuggers that had ruined the Llano Estacado!

The Llano Estacado before the treehuggers:

The Llano Estacado after the the treehuggers:

They are kind of graceful in their slow turnings, though. Kind of like… synchronized swimmers. Yeah, that’s it, synchronized swimmers. That sounds like it would be right up a treehugger’s alley.

Day 2 –Today was a good day, though not without its lessons. I slept a little late, 7:00, packed up and headed out of Brownview. Here’s a shot of downtown heading out:

More of the Llano Estacado today. I’ll post some pictures, but I know there’s only so much flat land you can stand to look at.

Behind the bike here you can see pretty much what I looked at for most of the day.

I made a rare Rest Area stop to put on some more sunscreen and make a couple of load adjustments… and I stepped carefully while there.

Now, on to today’s lesson. Having never been out west, I’ve kept in mind the numerous warnings I’ve heard and read to take every opportunity to fill your tank when in the desert areas such as AZ, NV, CA… The Llano Estacado is no desert, but is apparently no less desolate. Not much out there but cactus, windmills and oil pumps… oh, and I guess rattlesnakes, but I didn’t meet any of them. I was not expecting to go for stretches of over 100 miles and see absolutely no store or gas station of any kind. I left out of Brownfield and rolled into Roswell with a little less than half a tank of gas. I think it’s something like 95 miles from Roswell to Vaughn, but I never dreamed that there would be absolutely nothing in between. I hit reserve at 201 miles on the trip meter, just before I passed a sign that said, “Vaughn-40”. I knew my reserve was good for about 20 miles, maybe more if I rode easy, and I knew there was no way I was making it to Vaughn on this gas. I pulled over and fired up the VZ Navigator on my phone to see if there might be a gas station a few miles down one of the crossroads I’d been seeing, but there was no service in the area. So I rode at about 60 and finally ran out of gas 12 miles south of Vaughn. I didn’t bother trying to wring every foot I could out of it — when it started sputtering I just pulled it over and shut it down. I had purposely stayed well ahead of a big RV that I’d played leap frog with for a while, thinking they must have a generator on board and therefore a gas can with gas. I got off the bike and took out my notebook and made a sign:

Disregard the smaller writing, that came later and you’ll understand by the end of the story. So I stood on the side of the road like an idiot, waving my sign at passersby and gesturing to my gas tank. Almost immediately a truck turned around (no small feat considering the turnarounds are about 1/4 mile apart,) but alas, he had no gas or gas can, and he went on his way. But this encouraged me and caused me to think that maybe the locals were concerned about motorists being stranded in the desert and would be quick to lend assistance. And hark! Here cometh yon RV, like a knight on a white horse. And behold! The RV moveth not into the left hand lane as some other cowardly knaves have done. Nay, he moveth boldly forward in the right hand lane, because he means to pull over and lend a poor soul assistance. Naaaaah, he blew past me like I was some homeless guy on a street corner in LA. After about 15 minutes of watching cars go by someone else stopped. This fella didn’t have a gas can either, but he said he would go into Vaughn and get one. He said it with the air of resignation of someone who really has no choice but to perform the task, and I knew he was just the kind of guy that didn’t have a choice. It was in his power to resolve the problem, and he had to do it whether he wanted to or not. He wasn’t about to just drive on by like it wasn’t his problem. He was a man from another time, when people felt responsibility just a bit sharper than most do now. I introduced myself before he drove off and he told me his name was Bob Bogan and he was traveling with his daughter Stacy. He asked me if I had a cell phone number and I told him I could give it to him, but there was no service in this area which I knew because I was trying to call AAA when he drove up. Stacy said she didn’t have service either, so off they went. I told Mr. Bogan that I would be right here when he got back. He kind of laughed and I told that what I meant was that I would not try to flag anyone else down. There was no way I was going to let him go through all of that and then not be there when he got back. So they drove off, and I waited. It was hot, but I guess it was what they call “dry heat,” because there was a stiff breeze, and it was a hot breeze, and the sun was beating down, but it was not uncomfortable. In fact I stood on the side of that road for a total of about one hour, but I don’t think I ever broke a sweat. Here was my view for that hour:

North:

East:

South:

and West:

Not much happenin’ on the Llano Estacado. I did check out the local fauna:

Could this be the legendary prickly pear of  western novel fame? A quick Google search proves that it’s not, but I thought at the time that it might be, and I fought an urge to try eating one of the red bulbs. No need though, I had plenty of water on the bike. At least I got that part of desert survival right. Actually, it’s possible that this could be a type of prickly pear cactus called Cholla, but I’m not sure.

After being gone about 40 minutes, I saw Mr Bogan and Stacy coming back. I gotta tell you, I choked up just little when I saw them, because he was driving with his flashers on. This led me to think that he must have been driving fast in order to get back quickly. Was it because he was concerned about me standing in the heat? I have to think so. I told him that I knew that he had to buy that gas can and that I wanted to pay for it, the gas, his gas and his time. We put the gas in the tank and I said “that gas can is going to stink up your truck,” (it was an SUV,) and he told me that I was now the proud owner of a new gas can. Do you know that man wouldn’t even let me pay for the gas for the bike? He wouldn’t take a dime from me. Not that I’m surprised. Like I said before, I had already sized Mr. Bogan up as the kind of man that does these things out of a sense of duty, not because it makes them feel good to do it or because it makes them happy. I once got my truck stuck in the sand, and I walked across the street to house to ask for help. The guy was happy to pull my truck out with his tractor, and he was also happy to take the $20 dollars that I offered him. I once ran out of gas on my bike in front of another guy’s house and he was happy to let me buy a quart of gas off of him with my last two dollars cash so I could get home. Mr. Bogan didn’t seem like was happy to do all that, it was just something he had to do, and he wouldn’t dream of taking a dime for helping a stranger, no matter how much it put him out or how much it cost him. His is a dying breed. While he was gone I wrote down my name and contact information, and the address to this blog. I knew that he wouldn’t take my money. When I offered it he put up his hand, turned his back and walked back to his truck. I followed him back and gave him the piece of paper and explained about the travel journal I was keeping online. I asked him if I could take his picture and told him that I would post it, which he said was fine. Here is Mr. Bob Bogan and his daughter Stacy, and I hope I’m spelling his name right.

I hope you had a great Father’s Day with your daughter. Oh, and by the way. I don’t really have any use for a gas can, and I really don’t want to ride around with it strapped to my bike. But it is, and I will, to remind me and in appreciation of your kindness.

I’ve got more pictures from today, but since I had to do two days’ posting, it’s well after midnight and I’m going to bed. I’ll catch it all up tomorrow.

Day 3 – Today went well and I took way too many pictures. Too many to upload, edit and post tonight. Sorry but I have to take break and rest tonight. I’m at Marble Canyon and I want to get up real early and spend a bit of time checking out the Grand Canyon before I zoom over to Death Valley Junction.

I’ve edited my itinerary for the last time. All preparations are finished, even down to a detailed list of what items are to be packed where. I made a last minute decision to take our faithful duffel bag instead of the nifty-neato HD T-bag that I have used previously. The T-bag is roomy and well organized, but it just makes the bike too top-heavy. I’ve never liked it for this reason. That may be excusable when just beaming down the interstate, but for twisty turny mountain roads, where you’ll never know what is around the next curve or over the next hill, it’s just not safe. It’s enough just compensating for the difference in handling under normal conditions. If I had to make a sudden avoidance maneuver it could mean the difference between just stains in my shorts or stains on the road.

I’ve just got this work week to go, and then it’s on the road! Man, I’m excited.

Heads and cam are in. All I can say is, WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!!

The last big job I have before I head out is to install the SE heads and the Andrews cam. I was sort of dreading the job because that would mean I have to dish out the money for gaskets. I had a complete set of top end gaskets from the HD shop for about two years but I gave them to a friend, thinking I would never need them.

I have been going to the HD shop in College Station because it is the closest. There is an indy shop there that I have used, but he doesn’t stock much stuff. So, last night I Googled “harley parts Austin” and found a few places. (College Station is 50 miles away, Austin is about 65.) One that I found was Bud’s Motorcycles that seemed to be strictly Harley’s, no sport bikes. When I pulled up I saw what I considered to be a good omen, huge piles of used and scrapped parts out back. A virtual Harley salvage yard. When I walked in I knew I had come to the right place — Display cases packed with stuff that had been there for years, pegboards full of everything, bins and drawers of parts, boxes on the floor full of swap meet material — pretty much just junked up with decades worth of treasures.

I had read reviews of the place — well, there were only four — and the only one that had anything bad to say was that it took a long time to get waited on and that if you didn’t ride a Harley or buy one (they have a few in-house built bikes) it was hard to get service. So uhhhh, what was the problem? Yeah, it took a while before anyone came to the counter, but who cares? There was a ton of stuff to look at and go through. I could have stayed there all day.

When the guy came to the counter all I told him was that I was swapping out heads and cam and needed all the gaskets, seals and o-rings. I said it was a ’98 Softail. He looked at me sideways for a second and then I said, “It’s an Evo.” His face unclouded and he said, “An Evo.” Apparently I had not conveyed sufficient information at first. He said, “I’m not going to have any gasket sets…” and I told him, “I don’t want any sets, just what I need to do the job,” and that seemed to put him at ease. Then he went straight to work. He didn’t look in a book, he didn’t search for part numbers, and he didn’t call for Bud. He started scurrying around to various bins and drawers locating the items I needed. Cometic head gaskets, Genuine James gaskets for most of the others, with some HD o-rings thrown in here and there. I also got fork seals, (also for the top of the forks,) two pints of fork oil, and an oil filter. They had a bunch of 50W oil, some 25W60 (or maybe it was 65) which I have never seen nor heard of, and one quart of 20W50. I asked him if he had any more of the 20W50 ($6.95/qt) and he said no, all they had was gallons of Castrol 20W50. I said, “Well, that’s what I normally use anyway,” and he said that was what he would recommend. Now I really like this guy. So I figured I’ll just pick my oil up at the auto parts place at home.

I looked around for a while after, but didn’t see anything I couldn’t live without. I know that the top end gasket set alone costs around $100 at the HD shop, so I was prepared for something in the neighborhood of $200. The total bill? $96.34 — I’ll be going back to Bud’s from now on. Hell, that indy shop in College Station isn’t even open on Saturday. Besides, I don’t mind the longer trip, as long as I’m on my bike.

I made all my hotel reservations tonight… came out to a lot less than I had expected. New tires are on the bike, I’ll have new sealed bearing on the front and freshly packed bearing on the rear wheel. I’ll install new brake pads and put the wheels back on tomorrow. Saturday morning I’ll get up early and head to my buddy’s house to install an Andrews EV27 cam and Screamin’ Eagle heads.

I’ve made all my pre-trip purchases except for one. I’m waiting for the upholstery shop to finish repairing my damaged saddle bag. I bought a Sanyo S120 camera for the trip. 12 megapixels and quite small. It has photo stabilization and “smile detection,” what ever that is. I put a 4GB SD card in it. That ought to be enough, I’m not really much of a picture taker, but I really ought to since I’m going to be seeing some awesome stuff.

31 more days, then I hit the road!

I’ve got my itinerary down. I thought I would go ahead and post it. It’s long and most likely boring to most, but there are those who have requested to see it. My thanks to my friend Tom for his suggestions and for giving me the benefit of his considerable experience traveling the west by motorcycle.

Day 1 – Nothing to see but the rugged Texas landscape on the way. Hwy 290 to Austin, 71 out of Austin all the way to Brady, then 87 through Big Spring all way to Lamesa. From Lamesa I take 137 to Brownfield where I will stop for the night. Overnight in Brownfield, TX at the Crystal Palace Inn, 806-637-2586 – 447.62 miles

 

Day 2 – from Brownfield, 82 west to Plains, then 380 to Roswell, NM. Out of Roswell on 285 north to Santa Fe. 285 joins up with 84 at Santo FE and at Española I’ll stay on 84 to Chama. Overnight at Vista Del Rio Lodge, 575-756-2138, near Chama, NM – 431.26 miles.

 

Day 3 – Head out west on 64, which turns into 160 when I get into Arizona. Just past the AZ line, I will make about a 6 mile detour north to see the Four Corners Monument, which supposedly sits on the borders of Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico, except that it doesn’t. According to my calculations, it bears about 211 feet at 148.6° SE off the mark, but close enough. So, I’ll stay on 160 until I hit Hwy 89, just past Tuba City. North on 89, take 89A at Bitter Springs. That will take me to Marble Canyon. I’ll overnight at Marble Canyon Lodge, 928-355-2225 — 388.22 miles.

 

Day 4 — I’ll ride around the north rim of the Grand Canyon on 89A, getting on 389 at Fredonia. 389 becomes 59 when I cross into Utah, then at Hurricane I’ll head due west on 9. I’ll hit Interstate 15 right around St. George, UT and stay on it for about 130 miles till I get through Las Vegas. I’ll catch 160 west south of Vegas and overnight at the Amargosa Opera House, 760-852-4441 in Death Valley Junction, CA. They say it’s a real dump. 408.85 miles

 

Day 5 – 190 out of Death Valley — about 5 miles before Keeler 190 heads of to the SW. I’ll continue NW on 136 to Lone Pine. At Lone Pine I head north on 395 and stay on it all the way through Carson City and Reno (obviously crossing back into Nevada.) According to Tom, “Hwy 395 is a bitching highway, follows along the East side of the Sierra Nevada mountains, very picturesque.” I don’t doubt it. About 64 miles north of Bishop, just short of Lee Vining, I’ll head west on Hwy 120 through Yosemite National Park. Past the park 120 meets up with Hwy 49 and I’ll continue on 49 all the way to Grass Valley where I’ll turn onto Hwy 20 and head into Yuba City, CA. I made this change because instead of overnighting in Susanville, I’ll be staying at my friend Hawgryder’s house in Yuba City. He has promised me a good time and I have no doubt of it. I have heard many legends surrounding his annual Hawgfest, though I’ve never attended. Google it — oh, and look at his snapshots, if you dare.

Anyway, he also promised to escort me out the next morning and help get me on my way. If my expectations are met, I may need some help. 

About 3 or so miles outside of Susanville, CA 395 turns abruptly to the east, but I will continue on my NW heading on 36 and overnight at the Best Western Trailside Inn, 530-257-4123 in Susanville,CA. 480.67 miles.

A long day at 531.41 miles — but seeing friends and a free night’s lodging will be worth it.

 

 Day 6 – 36 west out of Susanville till I get to 89, Hawg will get me on my way toward my next destination which should take me north on Hwy 70 towards Chico and Hwy 32 out of Chico until I run into Hwy 36 just west of Deer Creek. Then continue on 36 to Hwy 89 over Mount Lassen. I guess this is an old volcano that you can drive right over. Should be interesting… hope it doesn’t blow on me. I’ll turn NE onto 299 and at Canby, I’ll head NW on 139. I looks like 139 becomes 39 at the Oregon state line. I will continue through Klamath Falls, maybe stopping to look at Crater Lake if I can. Out of Klamath Falls I take 97 north, hugging the shoreline of Klamath Lake. I’ll continue north and overnight at Sugarloaf Mountain Motel- 541-330-5998 in Bend, OR – 413.42 miles.  469.30 miles.

  

Day 7 – I’ll head out on Hwy 97 going north. At Madras I take 26 north up to Mt. Hood. At Government Camp, I turn off onto 35 and go to Hood River, in the Columbia Gorge. I’ll get on Interstate 84 west for just awhile, and turn off at Cascade Locks, and cross the Columbia at “Bridge of the Gods.” (That sounds ominous.) I’ll be on Hwy 14 heading west. Tom says, “Be careful, it’s a nasty little 2-lane road. At some point — don’t remember exactly how many miles— the road is carved out of the cliff face. Be sure to pull over there for a stunning view back up the Gorge. If you miss it, turn around and go back, it’s worth it.” This sounds awesome. I’ll cross back over the Columbia River just south of Vancouver and follow the river (more or less) all the way to its mouth at the Pacific Ocean. I’ll cross what I think is Gray’s Bay at Astoria, OR and be in Washington when I get to the other side. I will follow Hwy. 101 up to Willapa Bay, (home of the world’s best oysters!) Then various other little roads and end up the day in Olympia, WA at Tom’s house. 420.7 miles.

 

The next few days are up in the air. I’ve got two brothers and an aunt living in this area, and Tom has promised to take me on some day trips to see the local sights. I think he may also ride west with me a ways when I head out, so I’m gonna give him the lead on that. Once I get to Olympia, I figure I can afford to stay in the area until Day 11, 10, at which time I’ll need to start the homeward leg. So that gives a solid three two days to see it all. I ought to be able to eat plenty of oysters in that time.

 

Day 11 – Hopefully I’ll have Tom as a tour guide for part of this leg but, if I’m going to stay in WA this long and stay on schedule, I’ve got to make it to my sister-in-law’s house in Kalispell, MT at the end of the day. Right now I have it planned as taking Hwy 2 out of Monroe, WA all the way to Spokane, then 290 to just past Rathdrum, ID and catch 95 north to Sandpoint. Or, I could just stay on Hwy 2 and it would also take me to Sandpoint. Hwy 200 around the north end of Lake Pend Oreille. Continue following 200 to Trout Creek, MT and find the Vermillion River Rd, which twists and turns (and changes names a few times,) until it meets up with Hwy 2 again near Logan State Park. A short jaunt from there and we will arrive in Kalispel, MT – 596.42 miles.

Day 10 — Tom will accompany me for about a day-and-a-half out. These are his stomping grounds, but it will probably go something like this: Hwy 702 out of Olympia through McKenna, south on Hwy 7 till we get to Elbe. East on Hwy 706 outside of Elbe to Packwood. Hwy 12 out of Packwood and we’ll stay on 12 for quite a ways. Around Pasco we will cross first the Columbia River, and then the Snake River where it empties into the Columbia. We’ll closely follow a big bend in the Columbia until just south of Wallula where 12 turns sharply to the east. We’ll keep on Hwy 12 and stop for the night in Lewiston, ID — 379.63 miles, and an additional day on the road added to my trip.

Day 11. Today should be a good ride. We’re going to be following Hwy 12 to Lolo, MT which means we’ll be traveling Lolo Pass. I think this is where there is a warning sign that says something like “Curves next 77 miles.” Anyway, Tom and his wife Nikki will split off for home at Missoula. If I’m lucky and the timing is right, maybe I’ll get to catch my wife’s niece Darah performing somewhere. After leaving Missoula I’ll head north on 93 all the way up and around Flathead Lake. I could stay on 93 around the lake, or I could take 35, I’ll see what looks good when I get there. I’ll continue on to 93 to Kalispel and end the day with 329.95 miles.

Day 12 – Leave out of Kalispel up Hwy 2 to Glacier National Park. I’m not sure if there are better routes through the park, but there probably are. I see that when I get to West Glacier there is the Going To The Sun Hwy, which I have heard of. I’m sure that I’ll get plenty of suggestions before I get that far. I had mapped out to stay on Hwy 2 all the way to Browning, but it looks like I could take the Going To The Sun Hwy to Saint Mary, then take Hwy 89 down to Browning. From Browning I stay on 89 south to Choteau, then angle SW on 287 towards Augusta. At Bowman’s Corners I’ll go almost due west on 200 till suddenly in the middle of nowhere, just before we cross Alice Creek, about 11.5 miles east of Lincoln, I turn sharply SE onto Hwy 279. Now, I could go a little further down the road and turn, just so I could say that I had ridden on Sucker Keep Cool Creek Road, but this Hwy 279 looks interesting, with a few little twists and turns before you get to Canyon Creek and continuing SE until I get near Silver City. Here I turn to the SW on Birdseye Rd., (no number, just Birdseye Rd.,) until I come into Birdseye and meet up with CR 356. Then it’s CR 356 to Hwy 12 just outside of Helena, MT. Hwy 12 goes to Townsend then turns sharply to the east, but I’ll continue SSE on 287 from there. Close to Three Forks I’ll jump on I-90 for just a minute (well, maybe a few minutes,) and go on into Bozeman, where I’ll overnight somewhere. I have a sister-in-law that lives there also, but I have not spoken to her. (Really, these really are all my sisters-in-law.) 386.58 miles.

 

Day 13 – Hwy 191 out of Bozeman, through Big Sky, cross over into WY somewhere in the vicinity of West Yellowstone where Hwy 191 becomes Hwy 20, past Old Faithful (I probably should stop and take a look, ya reckon?) Then at Duck Lake, (it’s not a town, just a lake,) 20 appears to end where Hwy 14 tees into it, and I continue south on Hwy 89. About 12 miles south and I’ll cross the Lewis River and will generally parallel it until it joins the Snake River, then I kinda follow it for a little ways. Anyway, I stay on 89 until I get to Moran Junction, then head south on Hwy 26. There I find the Snake River again (looks bigger on this part of the map,) and roughly parallel it through Jackson, then cross it about 9 miles south of Jackson. Interestingly, there is a Swinging Bridge Road just south of this crossing. Could this be THE swinging bridge of DCS08? I continue down the Snake River, crossing it again and leaving it behind as I head east on 191 at Hoback Junction. (Insert corny joke here.) I’ll continue on 191, which mysteriously becomes 189 after it crosses some yellow boundary on my map, which is not a state line, until I come about 6 miles outside of Fontenelle. Then I get on Hwy 372 and go south to Peru, (not that Peru,) then jump on I-80 for a minute to Green River where I’ll overnight at the lovely Super 8 Motel, 307-875-9330. 400.61 miles.

 

Day 14 – Today should be an interesting day. Today I’m going to see both Flaming Gorge and the Moab Arches. I’ll head out south on 530 all the way to the Flaming Gorge Reservoir. When I cross into Utah Hwy 530 turns into 43 and at Manila I’ll turn south onto 44. This looks like a nice little road which after a little ways meets up with Hwy 191 at….. somewhere. At Vernal I get on 40 till I get to 88 about 7 miles east of Gusher. I go south on 88 through Ouray, after crossing the Green River 88 becomes Seep Ridge Rd. From here things get a little fuzzy. I found this cool looking little twisty turny road that comes out at I-70 at Harley Dome, UT. But it forks off from Seep Ridge Rd. about 10 miles south of 88 and I can’t find any road name or any designation for it at all until it crosses the county line (for whatever county Harley dome is in,) and then it becomes Winter Ridge Rd. But anyway, after it splits off of Seep Ridge Rd., it pretty much follows Willow Creek until about 16 miles short of that county line. If I don’t lose it between where it deviates from Willow Creek (because there are TWO other no-name roads that DO follow Willow Creek from there,) and where it becomes Winter Ridge, I should be good. Then, Book Cliff Ridge Rd. runs into it and I follow that all the way just about to Harley Dome. I’ll have to find some memento from Harley Dome… too cool of a name. So, then I’ll jump on I-70 for a minute to Cisco, then take Hwy 128 to the Colorado River and I’ll run right with the river until I get to 191. I’ll take 191 and cross the Colorado and go to the Arches Entrance Road at Moab. It looks like there’s a couple of roads worth a few miles of exploring here. After leaving the Arches I will retrace my way back down 191 then go through Moab and continue on 191 until I get to La Sal Junction. There I will head west on 46 into Norwood. Having already seen two awesome natural wonders – the Flaming Gorge and the Moab Arches – I stop for the night at Norwood Inn – 970-327-4982 in Norwood, CO and call it a 402.61 mile day.

 

Day 15 – Been looking forward to this one too. Today I will head out on 145 to Ridgeway and get on Hwy 550 and begin the twisting winding climb to Silverton. Another twisting winding decent and I’ll be in Durango where I’ll get on Hwy 160. 160 will take me west to Pagosa Springs where I’ll turn south on 84. At this point I’m probably going to be in “horse smells the barn” mode and be focused on getting home. 84 down past Chama, NM where I spent the night on the way up, all the way to Santa Fe. Out of Santo Fe I’ll take 285 to Vaughn, NM where I will overnight at the Bel-Air Motel, 575-584-2241 – 427.47 miles.

 

Day 16 – Nothing happening here but beaming straight home – through Lubbock, TX, Snyder, Coleman, Brownwood, Lampasas, Taylor, Giddings and home. 656.80 miles on the day.

 

6.012.46 miles total and approximately 103:41 hours in the saddle, not counting day trips and site seeing detours. Of course, I’ll be listening for suggestion from those more widely traveled and possibly readjusting accordingly.

                                                                                                                                    

 Like I said, not real exciting reading but it will give you some idea of what is before me. Did I mention that I’m anal when it comes to trip planning. At least I’m not camping — now I don’t have to finish that spreadsheet with the average mean temps over the last ten years for each stop.

 I’m pretty sure that the posts from the road will be much more interesting.