That's All Folks

Sunday September 18. Got up and started out towards Canada. Took my time on a leisurely route before driving through Buffalo to Fort Erie. The border crossing was a breeze, no lineups, no tough questions. Good to be back in Canada. Rode to St. Catherines and then phoned Peter to see if Toni, Jess and him would like some company for the evening.

I arrived in Paris, about four. Swapped some stories, had a delicious dinner, played cards and had a very enjoyable time.

This morning I woke up about 7:30, read for a bit, before waking Peter up about 9. We talked over breakfast and then I left Paris about 10:30.

Easy uneventful drive to Toronto. Arrived by 12:15 and after talking to Danny, Atilla, and Tomo briefly, I headed down to Wilkit Creek Park to run the 10k Terry Fox Run with Carol. Good to see I was still able to do it!

That's it. That's all she wrote. So after 47 days, 47 differents motels and beds, 17 states, 20,000 thousand kilometers, (12,000 miles), innumerable twists, turns, switchbacks, mountain passes, dozens of parks, meeting lots of wonderful people, seeing thousands of amazing things (and bringing back pictures of most of them!), some amazing hikes, and most importantly: about a total of one hour of rain in all that time - I'm home.

Could I have gone longer? Yes! I enjoyed it immensely and would gladly do it again. I enjoyed my own company, didn't get lonely or homesick and there is still lots of things to see out west!

I want to thank my partner in this ride, without whom I could not have done it: the Yamaha 1100 Silverado was a dream to ride, presented no problems in any way, did everything I asked of it, was very comfortable ( I only had to fluff up my cheeks a couple of times!) and only had to be reshoed once! It never complained it was tired, or hot or cold, or didn't want to go where I wanted to. I bought this bike especially for this trip and it did not disappoint in any way. Who could ask for a better partner.

I want to thank all of you who followed along, especially those who took the time to write a little response or say hi. It's really appreciated after a long day's ride and you are alone in a motel room. It was good to hear from people and I appreciated the comments. So, thanks for that.

Now I have about 10 days to organize a bunch of things before the next adventure!

The Ferry and Beyond

Friday September 17. Got up really early (at 4:30) in order to have some of the continental breakfast and then ride over to the ferry in the dark. They loaded all the cars and put the six bikers on the back of the ferry. One of the ferry workers came over and told me to tie down the bike! I had no idea how to do that, but luckily the other guys had done this before and gave me a hand. By the time we had them all tied down, the boat was underway and really moving. Apparently it used to be the world's fastest car ferry. After that I headed up to the seating area. It was inside and pretty boring, but I could see through the window that the sun was about to come up. So I went up on the top deck to get a view. It was very windy and cold as well. I sat up there by myself for an hour and watched the sun rise. At one point you could see the sun in the east reflecting off the windows of the high rises in Milwaukee in the west, very cool. After awhile we actually got out far enough that you couldn't see land anywhere.

When we got to the other side and the ferry slowed down, other people came up. A lady started talking to me and told me how she was driving her daughter to university in Ohio. I asked where they were coming from and she said Alaska!! They done it in a week... in the rain!

Once the ferry docked, I found the interstate leading out of Muskegon. It heads south east across Michagan to Detroit. On a lark, I decided to stay on it and ride south around Lake Erie to enter Canada at Port Erie, instead of Sarnia. So around I went. Eventually I got to the Allegeny State Park area and rode through some nice hilly country roads before finding a motel in Ellicotville New York. Tired, I bedded down quickly.

On I Go

Thursday September 16. Got up this morning and discovered another ugly day. It rained all night apparently, the sky was still heavy with big dark clouds and the temperature was a balmy 52F. Mounted up, and rode the rest of the way across Minnesota and a couple of hundred miles across Wisconsin. I was dressed quite warmly but my hands and feet got pretty cool. There was a light mist in the air, but luckily no rain. I think I've been chasing bad weather that's moving east. So far I have managed to stay behind it. I can't complain, I've had excellent weather and although it's cool and cloudy, at least I'm not wet!

Today, I took no photos! Nothing to take. It was farm land, mostly flat, cloudy and dull and very much like Southern Ontario. So, none. I did cross the upper reaches of the Mississippi River though. Interesting but not picturesque.

I've been thinking about taking a ferry across Lake Michigan that another biker told me about at Sturgis in August. It cuts a long drive off around the southern tip of the lake and gets you away from all the horrific truck traffic that I rode through heading west. There are two ferries to consider. One is a big ship and takes four hours and the other is smaller and takes two and a half. I had considered the bigger boat, and it leaves from a smaller city (less traffic and confusion to deal with) a little north of Milwaukee. But, I couldn't make the late morning sailing and the next was at 1:55am! getting across the lake about 6am. So I reconsidered and booked the other one. It sails at 6am from Milwaukee and arrives at 8:30. Plus, for September and October there is no charge for the motorcycle (usually $38), just the rider. Time wise that worked out better. I arrived in Milwaukee at seven, found gas, a Subway sandwich and eventually a Super 8. So now I can relax a bit and go to bed early for an early rising.

Looks like I'll be home Saturday or Sunday, weather depending. Hope to see a lot of you soon.

Riding, Riding

Wednesday September 15. Woke up this morning to a thunderstorm. Hung around getting organized, having breakfast, reading, etc., until it dried up enough to leave. It was an ugly day, totally grey and overcast. Seemed to be more rain coming over the Black Hills, so I left and rode east on I90. Rode to Sturgis, just to see what it was like without all the bikes, but it's just a boring, ordinary, town. There is lots of evidence of the big event, but a lot of shops and things are shut up for the season.

Rode on and the sky cleared up a bit just as I got to the Badlands. Who could resist? I love the landforms, but today the wind was so strong that it took a lot of the enjoyment out of it. It tried to blow me off the road and into the badlands! So, I made a quick tour and left. Did see however, three bighorn sheep.

Continued on I90 for the rest of the day fighting the wind and the trucks. It's a long way across South Dakota! Finally crossed into Minnesota and rode to Worthington before it got too dark. Found a Super 8 again and am settling down for the night.

Montana to South Dakota

Tuesday September 14. This morning while eating at the continental breakfast I talked a number of other guests. One was an amazing, determined man. He is handicapped and wheelchair bound from an accident in his youth when he was racing motocross motorcycles. He broke his neck and back. However, he never lost his love of riding and longed to do it again. He has purchased a Honda Goldwing trike and has had it modified to carry his wheelchair and to have all the controls hand operated. Wayne and his wife were on a two week journey on their bike and were going to ride Beartooth Pass!

After they left, I rode back into the actual town of Red Lodge to exchange something I bought back in August the first time through here! I bought two Beartooth t-shirts, but for some stupid

reason I got a medium and a small. I wore the small and actually washed it once, but I took it back and explained my stupidity and the lady let me get a medium instead. I told her that it was the longest distance I'd ever driven to return something: from San Diego to Montana!

Finally left town and rode from Red Lodge to Spearfish South Dakota. It was basically a travel day. The scenery was good, the highway was quiet and pretty straight and flat. The only place I really stopped was at Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. That should sound familiar, it's where Custer lost his last stand. They have a little visitor centre there and a museum and you can drive the hills and see the markers where the soldiers where originally buried.

Other than that, pretty quiet day. Oh yeah, one more thing. I was riding, listening to music and stopped at a highway junction to check my route. I was standing behind my bike and didn't hear here the trooper pull up behind me. When I turned around I was surprised, turned off the tunes and said hi. He asked if I was okay and if everything was alright. I told him I was just looking at the map. He said he was just checking to see if I was okay, offered a suggestion of route, wished me well and drove away. So, I owe an apology to the maligned troopers in my earlier post. He was a very nice officer.

Yellowstone and a Beartooth Encore

Monday September 13. I woke up cold, but I seemed to remember somebody saying that my emergency room didn't have heat... Anyway, checked the time, (6:30) and decided to get up. When to the washroom (across the hall) and when I came back and turned on the room light, I discovered that one of my windows was open! I couldn't see it at first because it was behind one of the bunks. Got dressed and went outside.. it was very cold and there was frost on the ground! There was lots of fog and steam coming off all the thermal springs. Very eeiry site.

Decided to enjoy my stay at the inn and wait for the weather to warm up before riding anywhere. Had a yummy buffet breakfast in the restaurant, went on a two mile walk around the geo thermal springs, watched Old Faithful in the light and explored the hotel taking photos. Staying in the park, instead of outside it at west Yellowstone, allowed me to enjoy the park at night and dawn. A definite bonus.

Finally, warmed up enough to ride, about 10:00. I rode east along the road that leads to Lake Yellowstone, the upper and lower falls and the Yellowstone "Grand Canyon". I found out where all the tourists go! Plus I seem to be on the senior's tour schedule. Bus loads of seniors, few young people around and no kids! (yeah for school).

Continued the eastern drive, past the exit I was going to take, and rode to Mammouth Hot Springs. I hiked around there for an hour, checking out the amazing formations caused by hot water and chemicals. Then doubled back to the north east exit of Yellowstone to ride an encore ride of the All American Highway - Beartooth Pass! (I did this in early August if you remember!) This is a truly beautiful road and an engineering marvel. It climbs about two thousand feet out of Yellowstone (which is already seven or eight thousand feet above sea level), above the tree line and crests one mountain of the Beartooth Range, descends slightly and then climbs another mountain via lots of switchbacks. There are several beautiful lakes on the way up and near the summit, as well as some snow that hasn't melted from last winter and some new snow along the road that they got last week! The descent takes you into Red Lodge Montana, where I got a room at the Comfort Inn.

I picked this place because they have a computer for guest use. However, the connection is so slow, that it won't let me work with photos, and it dropped the line on Skype twice while I was talking to my parents. So, I'm sorry, but photos will come asap.

Western Hospitality

Still Saturday September 11. The lady (Karyn) told me that her "no" light wasn't working on her Vacancy sign and she didn't have a room. I asked her if she had a laundry room or a shed I could sleep in. I told her that I didn't want to ride in the dark, on roads I was unfamiliar with and with animals about. She was very helpful, and tried to phone other motels in the area, but they were all booked up. She heard my desperation, and said "Let me see what I can do" and went into the next room, which was a bar/restaurant. She came back about five minutes later and said 'there is a lady in there who will take you home with her.' She explained that the lady was a good friend of hers and would let me stay at her place. 

She took me in to introduce me to her. The lady, didn't say hello, she just said, "I have a gun and I know how to use it!" I said, "I'm Canadian and I don't have a gun!" She said she was just having dinner and a drink with friends and she'd leave in about an hour. She told me to relax and have a drink.

I was very happy to have the accommodation solved, and with nothing to do for an hour, I ordered dinner too. The restaurant is very quaint and the food was delicious. While eating, I talked to another guest and the owner (Michael) of the place. After we had all eaten, I told Michael to put my saviour's (Cheri) meal on my bill.

When she was ready she asked if I wanted to follow her or go in her car. I asked her 'where are we going? and are there dirt roads.' She answered yes to dirt roads and said it was about six miles away. So I decided that I'd leave my bike at the motel. So Cheri drove me six or seven miles to I don't know where (somewhere in Star Valley) and told me I could sleep in the finished basement!

Now that's hospitality. She lives alone and she doesn't know me. On my part, I don't know her, have no idea where she has taken me, left my bike at the motel and have no idea how to get back to it!!

However, I slept well, I hope Cheri did too.

The next morning Cheri and I enjoyed a cup of coffee and she asked me about myself and my trip. Then she drove me back to the Nordic Inn. I thanked her profusely and took a photo of her there. I went inside to have breakfast in the restaurant. As soon as I walked in, Karyn told all the people in there about my adventures of last night. Everyone had a good laugh. There was a large family group, who had come to the area from Georgia, in order to pay their last respects to their brother who passed on last year. He was a motorcycle rider too and one of his favourite places was Yellowstone. They were very interested in my adventures on the bike and asked me lots of questions. They were all posing on the front lawn for a group photo and asked if I would take it for them. I did, and took one on my camera too. Then they put me in the middle of their family group and took another! Lots of fun.

Karyn, her mother Ann, her brother Michael and the chef are the ultimate snow birds. Instead of wintering in Florida or Arizona, they winter in New Zealand!

This was one of the most interesting adventures of this whole trip. They were wonderful people and it makes you realize that there are still lots of good people out there.

Grand Tetons and a Yellowstone Adventure

Sunday September 12. After meeting all those wonderful people, I drove north again, through Jackson to the Grand Teton National Park. The temperature was about 45F when I started out. The mountains are stunning, with a long string of snow capped peaks. Along the east base of the mountains are a number of beautiful lakes. I hiked a three mile path to view of one them.

After exploring the roads and paths of the Tetons, I continued north to the south entrance of Yellowstone National Park. The park is enormous and it takes a while to get to the various sites. But I chose to head directly to Old Faithful and see if I could get a room, to avoid last night's problems. I figured that since it was Sunday, most people would be heading home and the hotel crunch would ease up. I figured wrong. The desk at the Old Faithful Inn told me there were no available room at any of the hotels in the park. But she told me to keep checking in case a room became available. One young desk person, told me that if I couldn't find a room, she'd give me a blanket and I could find a dark corner of the massive old inn to sleep!

I decided to ride the the west entrance, West Yellowstone and get a room at one of the miriade of motels there. On the ride out I stopped and explored two of the thermal sites and watched the bubbling and boiling water and mud. I rode the thirty miles to the gate and discovered that the whole town was booked! We're talking hundreds, if not thousands of rooms in a very touristy town. I thought that things would slow down by mid September. I was wrong. So, now what? I decided to ride back the thirty miles to the Old Faithful Inn and see if maybe they had a cancellation or if I could take that young girl up on her offer. I presented myself to the desk again and was told there were no rooms. I said that I wasn't prepared to ride in the dark and cold, again with wildlife on the roads. She told me that was wise because you can't see buffalo at night, because their eyes don't even light up. So, she said let me talk to my manager. He came back and told me they had a room that they only used for "emergencies". It was a small room with three bunkbeds in it. I got it for about half of the regular room rate. It was located in the oldest part of the wonderful old inn. I must be doing something right!

So, I brought my stuff into the room, laughing to myself all the way! I spent the rest of the evening exploring this huge log cabin inn, walking around outside and looking at the very bright stars and watching Old Faithful in the dark! At nine, I had dinner in the restaurant. I had a yummy bowl of red pepper soup and a delicious spinach salad. Then I sat in the huge lobby, reading and soaking up the atmosphere of this amazing hotel before turning in in my emergency room.

Fire Alarms in Loveland

Saturday September 11. Day got off to a rude start with a fire alarm at 4:00 am, buzzer going, lights strobing and I had no idea what was going on. Stood outside for a half hour before they sorted it out. Back to sleep, thankfully. Woke up and turned on CNN and watched the rebroadcast of the Sept 11 attacks. Interesting to watch it again and listen to the broadcasters trying to figure out what was going on.

Finally left and on the road by 10. I'm just east of the Rockies and rode straight north to the Wyoming border to get a map. Decided to head to Yellowstone the quickest way possible, so I took interstate 80 west. Rode all the way to Rawling. It is wide open country and WINDY!! At hwy 387 headed northwest on a two way highway. As I was riding a really strong gust of wind actually blew my helmet off my head! Almost took my head and neck with it. Later on a transport truck heading the other way, blew my feet right off the foot boards. I'm telling you it was WINDY!!

Then, when I was in the middle of nowhere, I almost ran out of gas! I had to turn it to the reserve tank. A man following me saw the bike slow down and when we both stopped to take a photo at a scenic overlook, he asked me if I was short of gas. He said he would follow me in to the next town (wherever that was) to make sure I made it. Luckily I arrived safely about 10 miles later in Lander.

From there I rode through some beautiful dry scenery until Dubois. Then I ran into about 10 miles of dirt road construction. Luckily the crews weren't working, but it wasn't much fun riding.

Arrived in Grand Teton National Park and immediately saw a few buffalo and the beautiful mountains. Rode south to Jackson Hole to get a room and discovered the whole town was booked solid! It didn't help that there was a huge bicycle race going on that ended in Jackson. So, I had nowhere to go. Decided to ride south to the next town. Well it was 13 miles away and wasn't a town, just an fork in the road. Asked at a gas station which route might be better, and the lady told me to head towards Alpine and look for the Best Western. Alpine was another 23 miles! It was getting very cold and dark. When I got there I saw a motel and went to see if they had a room.

The next post is dedicated to what happened next!

Crossing the Rockies - Twice!

Friday September 10. Up early and decided to treat myself to a real American breakfast. So, I headed back across the street to the diner. Had a veggie omelet with hash browns and toast and an orange juice and coffee!

The temperature was a chilly 52 degrees fahrenheit when I started out. Dressed warmly, with lots of layers and headed north. Again it was a secondary highway and very scenic. This road was terrific, because although it was very windy, you could do it at 80 to 90 km. My goal today was to be within reach of Rocky Mountain National Park. En route I had to decided whether to take the more direct route and pick up the interstate or take another secondary road through Aspen. I thought going that route might be interesting, so away I went. Boy am I glad I did! The town of Aspen was okay, much like any other skiing town, very busy, with chalets and the like. But just east of Aspen the road narrowed and began to twist and climb. Eventually, I rode over Independence Pass at 11000 feet. It is also the continental divide. It was windy and cold up there! but the views and the route were both spectacular.

If you look at the picture of me by the pass sign, the reason I look like the pillsbury dough boy, is because I was wearing two shirts, a fleece sweater, a windbreaker, my summer biker jacket and my rain suit to cut the wind. And I had on three pairs of pants! I'm telling you it was cold. It was cold just standing, try the wind chill riding!

From there I rode east and north to Rocky Mountain National Park. I got there with enough time to ride through. The park is beautiful and consists mainly of one long ride up and over the Rockies. This time to 12000 feet. Again really cold and windy. My fingers were freezing trying to take pictures.

After riding back down, I decided to ride right through the town that is just outside the park, because there is a Scottish event going on and everything is booked. So, I rode 28 miles east to Loveland, through a beautiful windy canyon, following the river that created it. Arrived at dusk, got a motel, a subway sandwich and settled in for the night, after peeling all my layers.

Pueblos to the Million Dollar Highway

Thursday September 9. Got up early and went back to the cafe for breakfast before heading out to do the Mesa loop trail, visiting a number of ruins. Then I took a guided tour of Balcony House with a small group and a ranger. It was fabulous. You had to reach it by descending a hundred feet over the cliff, traversing a ledge and climbing a thirty rung ladder. After that tour, I rode to Spruce Tree House (another site) and the excellent museum, which had lots of artifacts from the ruins.

Then I descended from Mesa Verde and began to ride north. This afternoon was all about the ride. Several good highways to reach the one I had been told about. It's called the Million Dollar Highway and connects two mining towns up in the mountains. The road has hundreds of twists and turns, and even has two double 's' turns in it, as it rises up over a couple of passes and follows the San Juan River canyon. Magnificent road. However, the going was slow, because of the turns and lack of guardrails (again).

From there I headed through the Black Canyon National Park area as I headed further north and east. The canyon is spectacular! with cliffs that are hundreds of feet high. The ride is along the lip of the canyon with spectacular drop offs. Again the route was slow going and I was trying to get too far. The towns were very far apart and the road was deserted and the time was getting late! Went through a couple of tiny towns with no motels. Luckily, finally, found a town with a motel! Checked in, but no computer. However, there was a diner right across the street, so I headed across and treated myself to a club sandwich.

Ruins and Artifacts

Wednesday September 8. It was raining again this morning. Then it looked like it was going to clear, so I headed out riding north and then east to another national park I'd heard about, called Hovenweep. The park contains a small canyon that is surrounded by ruins of the Pueblo people. They were master stone masons, who fashioned homes from the sandstone rock with no metal tools.

They think that they were originally hunters and gatherers who probably hunted most of the game in their area and then turned to farming. As a result they settled down and built permanent structures. There was virtually no one there (it's very remote) except me. One of the rangers was showing the other around the site and explaining things. They didn't mind me joining in. They reminded my of our outdoor education specialists, Sandee and Shirley! While I hiked around the perimeter of the canyon, the rain drifted off and the sky became less threatening.

From there I rode to Mesa Verde in Colorado. To get to it you have to ride up an amazing twenty mile road that climbs up to the summit of the mesa. I went to the visitor centre and the lady

recommended doing a tour of Cliff Palace. So I rushed to get organized and ride the six miles to the start of the tour. As soon as I got there, it started to rain a bit. So, I covered up the bike and waited at the overlook for the ranger. Along came a thunderstorm. We got pretty wet while waiting, but once the tour started and we went down to the ruins, we were protected by the cave. The tour and place was amazing. When I climbed back up to the rim again it started to rain again. I got quite wet riding back to the visitor centre. I decided to check in at the Farview Lodge and stay up on the mesa overnight, as there is lots more to see up here and I rained out of time! So after drying a few things, I went to the cafe and treated myself to a yummy chili lasagna with a salad and some salsa. Then I watched this magnificent sunset. Now having updated all of this, I am going up to the bar to have a beer! I deserve it.