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.