The Journey Continues 8/28

The adventure continued east to Mt. Rushmore, Custer State Park and Badlands NP.  Landed at the campsite ~1800 8/26 and got settled in. spent 3 nites here.  Took off early the 27th to tour Mt. Rushmore.  The new visitor center and grounds are impressive compared the the tiny one that used to be here.  I spent ~3 hours enjoying the views, trails and information. 
I then headed for Custer State Park which is just a short ways down the road.  The temps were climbing too and approaching mid 90's.   It took me ~2 hours to ride the loop thru the park.  All the critters must be hiding in the shade as I did not see one bison in the park.  The gang of burros were out though holding visitors hostage for any treats you had.  There were several colts as well being trained in holding up the unsuspecting guests.  There were ~12-15 wandering the holdup area snagging what they could.  After completing the tour I headed for camp and cooler temps.  It sprinkled a bit in the evening, just enough to leave dusty water splotches everywhere.  I went back to Mt. Rushmore for the evening events and lighting of the memorial.  the night view presents a whole different perspective glowing in the distance.
 Saturday I took off early ~0700 and headed for Badlands about 85 miles away.  I arrived at the park just about 0900 with temps in the low 60's, much better!  The landscape looks like the moon.  Very desolate and dry with minimal vegetation.  The various rock layers and colors play off the sun and shadows and produce very dramatic results.  Every turn provided another incredible view.  the 25 mile loop took about 3 hours to complete and by the time I reached the visitor center at the end it was ~90.  The ranger said it reached 107 yesterday.  No thanks!   
Headed back down the road and stopped at Wall Drug,  It sure has some odd and varied collections of all sorts form one extreme to the other.  There is also no shortage of stores trying to lighten your wallet.  I wandered thru the various sites had an ice cream cone and headed back to camp.  Got back about 5 with temps in the 70's.  There was a thunder and lightening show and accompanying rain that lasted 15-20 minutes and as I write this the skies are partly cloudy with many stars blinking a way.    Continuing east tomorrrow.  

MT, WY, SD More great views ! 8/27

A travel day heading for Mt. Rushmore, Custer, Crazy Horse.  Headed down the road about 0700 temps in the 30's again but warmed quickly.  I headed down MT 296 - Chief Joseph Hiway.  This is another scenic byway that has more incredible views.  Mountains, open valleys, and wide open views.  The top of the pass - Dead Horse Pass I think is ~5500 ft and you can see forever.  Again the skies were crystal clear blue and temps in the 70's or so.  At Cody I headed east on WY 14A - Medicine Wheel Scenic route.  There is nothing out there as far as the eye can see except incredible views for ever.  The road has some very steep grades and tight turns which make for a great ride! I eventually connected with I90 and continued east towards Sheridan with temps in the mid 90's.  A bit toasty!  I ended the day at a campground near Mt. Rushmore with temps in the low 80's. Much better!  Tomorrow I'll ride thru Custer Park and Mt Rushmore.  There is a new visitor center at Mt Rushmore that was not there last time I was here in '94. 

ID, MT, WY - Superb ! 8/25

Left Spokane early Tue AM tempos in the mid 30's.  Warmed up to mid 40's over the mountains into ID and warmed nicely thru the day.  Monday was a travel day with the destination of Cooke City or there abouts.  Entered Yellowstone thru the North Gate which I had not been thru before.  Rode thru the park to the East Entrance and enjoyed the views.  Saw assorted elk, and of course bison.  I encountered a small cluster in the road way so had to wait for them to decided to mosey along.  I checked at the east gate and found there was no tent camping allowed in the area due to a mauling a month or so ago.  Motels in Cooke City were $90 a nite and up!  I didn't want to buy it, just spend the nite!  The clerk suggested I cross over into WY about 10 miles down the road.  I did and found a small campground that was almost empty and was a paltry $10 a nite.  much better!   Wednesday I rode over Bearthooth Pass - WY 212.  It's about 60b miles to Red Lodge and it took me almost 5 hours.  the road is full of twisties, awesome views one after the other. Numerous pullouts to take in the scenery.  There are several  lakes, and streams all along.  they are just about completed with paving the road so it's nice fresh smooth blacktop.  It's really hard to ride and look at the same time!  Much of the road has no guard rail so one false move and you're toast!  The summit is ~10,950 feet and the views were incredible.  I continued on down the back side to the end in Red Lodge, had lunch and wandered the town.  Reminds me of Placerville.  Similar size, old town main street etc.  I headed back the same way to enjoy the views from the other direction.  Always something different to see.  I did see 4 mountain goat at one of the stops also.  Got  back to camp about 1630 having covered ~150 miles or so.  The weather was perfect, crystal clear blue skys and 100's of bikes enjoying the day.  It'd don't get much better!

Headed East...Finally

Left Tacoma Saturday morning and bagged the first corner in Blaine, WA.  Did the obligitory photos at the post office, grabbed a few post cards and wandered around town a bit.  Quaint town with a small harbor.  Proud of their gas prices too!  $3.59 - ouch.. No I did not get any there.  Went up into BC to visit friends in Surrey and spent Saturday and Sunday there.  Did a small loop around the area on Saturday and caught up on the events since we did our BC tour in '07.  Sunday we went out an played with Steve's newest toy, a quad.  Sure is a different ride!  A whole different set of skills needed for that.  Mananged not to fly off a cliff or mangle anyone.

Left BC Monday AM and promptly got stuck at the border checkpoint for an hour.  Lines were already long at 0800.  Not a good way to start the day  Once thru that mess I headed east on WA20 - the Cascade Scenic Hiway.  And scenic it was!   Light traffic and a nice road with pently of scenery. The weather was perfect also.  70-80 all day with clear blue skys.  Does not get to much better. Numerous lakes, viewpoints and ever changing scenery.  Not the fastest route but that's the idea.  Got to Spokane about 830PM and called it a day.    Tomorrow I'll be meandering south-east towards Cody, WY.    I'll post pix when I have a better network connection and some power.

The Journey Begins...

Well the adventure has started!  I rolled out of the driveway @1100 and headed north.  The weather was great ~75.  As the day went on the temps rose and as I rolled thru Redding, CA it was a balmy 99.4!  As I continued up the mountains towards Lake Shasta it dropped back to the lower 90's.  The lake is quite full and lots of houseboats were out.  From there the weather went up and down as I went over mountain passes.  The trailer is definitely full as I can feel the difference vs. not pulling it.  I rolled thru Oregon with temps in the low 90's and dropping as evening arrived.  I was making pretty good time... until the dreaded night construction.  Everything stopped!  It took me over 1/2 hour to go maybe a mile.  So much for making good time.  Once thru that mess I made it thru Portland and  into Washington. The weather cooled quite a bit and required a jacket and glove change.  I don't mind riding in the cool weather but I don't like being cold.  as the evening progressed in to night I was getting tired but my destination was still a few hours away .  I stopped for my last gas stop and plugged in my electric vest as it was getting cooler still. 55 was the last temp I saw so almost a 50 degree swing for the day.  I rolled in to my daughter's in Tacoma at 0100.  A 14 hour day ended and I was ready for bed! 762 miles for the day.  Next stop the first corner.