Cathy
and I came back from our 3850 ml trip last Thursday and even though we had rain
all days, except three, it was a superb ride.
After
leaving everyone in
Leavenworth
we headed over
Bonnet
Pass
and we ran into a hailstorm but not bad enough to stop and put on rain gear.
Anyone riding an 1800 knows that if you are moving very little rain hits the
people on board so through all the rain storms we had, not once did we put rain
gear on. The first night was spent in
Lewiston
and we stayed at a chain hotel called “The Guest House”, very nice, down
town, and only $54.00 with covered parking for the bike. Cathy said I only
stayed there because of the steak house next door, not true, but the prime rib
was good.
The
next morning we left and rode the Snake and Salmon rivers through wisdom and
spent the night in
Stanley
at 9000 ft. The next morning was 40 deg and looking at my volt meter I know
someone on the back had a heated jacket turned on high and it looked like fog
behind us but was just steam coming from Cathy. It was a nice warm day and we
just quietly worked our way through all the back roads to the north entrance of
Yellowstone
Park
. We rode from north to south and apart from one buffalo liking the color red
and ready to mount……………………anyway I had to drive on the wrong
side(for brits the correct side) of the road we managed to escape without any
hoof prints. In
Wyoming
after leaving the park we hung a left instead of going to
Jackson
and ended up crossing a 9600 ft pass with hail and ten miles of road works. One
point we had to leave the highway and go on gravel and mud…………….and
let me tell you it was mud and at one point it was above the tire tread but
managed to gun it and escaped the suction and decided to hell with that and
knocked a few cones over and got back on the highway. At that point the three
bikes behind me followed and the next 8 mls we road on old pavement and waved at
the guy holding the go slow sign. I was hoping a piece of mud would fly of and
hit the sign he was holding. That night we stayed at a very nice Holiday Inn and
we both hit the pool and the manager hooked a hose up for me outside so I could
wash the bike down …………..then I was ready for a few beers. Then again it
was all the side roads towards
Rapid City
through gorgeous Canyons with wild clear rivers. We made it to Keystone and
that evening we rode the two miles to Mt Rushmore and that was a very special
sight. Before we left the hotel we unhooked the trailer and rode the elevator
and stored it in the room so we could ride without. The Uni-go was a hit with
everyone and I could have sold ten of them with people wanting to know how they
pulled and who made them. Even the biggest and baldest Harley guy came and
asked but he wanted to know how many horsepower the one trailer wheel put out.
That night after Rushmore I thought it was good for the two new
USA
citizens (AT LEAST WE PAY TAXES) to celebrate and we found a very nice watering
hole with everyone in western gear. They had a couple of great guys playing
music and singing country western songs…………….Cathy liked them so much
she bought one of the CD’s . I just think she wanted to see what he looked
like under the huge cowboy hat he was wearing.
Next
day we headed to Sturgis, enough said about that except to say we filled up with
gas and left……………it’s a dump. So we rode into Deadwood………now
that’s my type of town. The high street was all blocked of for Wild Bill
Hickocks weekend so that was a good excuse to spend the night plus Cathy had
seen the Casino lights flashing and it reminded her of home. We splurged and
stayed at the oldest hotel in town with the creaky floorboards and the resident
ghost……………Cathy thought she saw one but that was just me in my
underwear coming out of the bathroom at two in the morning…………old age.
Deadwood was a great town and will go back any time. The next day we left about
ten and visited Devils tower (a rock sticking out the ground with Bear claw
marks on the side) and instead of taking 90 we went on 212 over the top and came
out at Custer’s Battlefield and then found a hotel for the night. I really
enjoyed the battle field and thought they did a great job on the
presentation…………amazing country side. Next stop was
Helena
for the night then up to
Glacier
Park
and we found a great Eco lodge and spent two nights, very clean, bike friendly
and only $54. We rode into the park from the west entrance but could only do 29
mls because they had recently closed the road because of snow. We rode up then
returned and took an hour long cruise on
Lake
MacDonald
on board an 81 year old boat. That night we again splurged (thank you Visa) and
had dinner at the lodge which was very good.
The
next day we headed on hwy 2 into
Washington
and then 20 and spent the night in Republic. Another great little town with
good beer and worth mentioning that last weekend was Republic bike week and they
have it every year with on off road races and lots of special events.
We
decide to just head home through
Winthrop
and hwy 20. Stopped in
Winthrop
for my favorite Barbecued duck salad and of course we had to have the ice cream
and watch all the traffic go by.
It
was a great trip and would go again tomorrow…………no problems with bike,
trailer or wife so all in all a great time.
Best
regards,
Paul
Kellett
Goldwing
Road Riders Association 
