Wow... What a Trip!!!Day 1 - Saturday,
September 10, 2005
(600 Miles)
After Rick had a hard night of partying with a friend in Dallas, and after only 3 hours of sleep, we left Carrollton at 5:00am. We planned this to be a stress-free ride with no preplanned routes or time schedules, just us and the road. 3 miles later, we pulled over so Rick could get his ipod working; I topped off my tank while he was doing that. He got it working and we continued on our way.
30 miles later, we pulled over so Rick could get his ipod working. Again, he got it working and we continued on our way. The morning was cool at 64 degrees and we were dreading the 25-40 degree weather we'd be experiencing in Wyoming and Montana. Our thin Texas blood was going to be detrimental to our journey. The drive between Carrollton and Amarillo via 287 is still the same long, boring, desolate, windy, construction-filled, road-kill, and truck-infested highway.
Rick, while noticing his ipod was acting 'funny', passed me stating he had music again. When he passed he asked if I saw his muffler, apparently, he had some some cool modification. NO MUFFLER!.. just a little pipe he bought or maybe found. The strange thing is it wasn't any louder!. It sounded exactly the same. What the heck is BMW thinking? The muffler weighs 22 lbs and does not muffle anything. Oh well, back to the trip. We had breakfast at Denny's in Amarillo then left towards the Texas/New
Mexico line. Note to all if your on a wing going toward New Mexico, don't forget to GAS up in Amarillo. Otherwise, you will be riding slow, calling yourself a Dumb ass heading to Dumas. At this point, Rick sped ahead and took an action shot of the momentous event.
Paulo had wanted to ride with us today all the way to the Texas/New Mexico border to get a picture of the 3 of us next to the border sign and also pick up some other states and counties on his quest to reach 1000 miles in a day. He decided to ride with briantootoomany and leave earlier to make better time. We wondered, as we passed where the construction zone that had apparently removed the Texas/New Mexico sign, if they ever made it there and what picture they got. In New Mexico, near the
Capulin Volcano, we stopped to help a kid with a broken MC. He was on a Kawasaki 250 with no power to anything. We checked fuses and looked over the bike, as a rancher stopped to see if a jump would help. It didn't. We left him with the rancher, as there was nothing more we could do. Rick's CB was now starting to act 'funny'. We stopped in Raton, NM for gas and decided to call it a day and camp at Trinidad State Park in Colorado. Apparently, Rick's ipod started acting 'funny' again so he put it in the trunk
and forgot about it. After 3 U-turns my GPS finally got us to the park. Great scenery and a couple cool mountains even though nothing like we were going to see. Rick's ipod started working at the park for a bit, looks like a bad connection. That evening, we used Rick's laptop and routed the next day's journey then uploaded it to his GPS. There was even a swing and slide near our campsite but apparently, we're better at keeping a motorcycle upright.
Day 2 - Sunday,
September 11, 2005
(570 Miles)
We started the day early but not too early, leaving the park in Trinidad, CO at around 7am. At that point, Rick's ipod was working again, so we velcro'd it to the handlebars to see if that worked any better. An hour later, before his CB started acting 'funny', he mentioned the ipod quit again. That was it and he would never use it again the entire trip. Enough of that, time for the route. Our route carried us from Trinidad, through Stonewall on hwy 12, a very nice little scenic road. Then, we took 160 to Alamosa, Pagosa Springs and Durango. At Durango we jumped on 550 north. This road looks somewhat straight on the map but is filled with every kind of twisty you can imagine while going through forests and also having a great view of some mountains. We went through Silverton and Quray. We took 62, near Ridgeway to 145 north, which turns into 141. This being the anniversary of 9/11, it was only fitting that we met up with a group of Harley riding firemen from Ohio at one of the scenic turnouts.
Hwy 141 is filled with red rock bluffs and some very comfortable yet challenging curves. The rocks look like they're going to fall on you the whole time you're riding through the area.
At Gateway, we continued on 141 into Grand Junction where were going to head to Glade Park to camp. But, when we got there, a long gravel road led to the campgrounds. We were hungry and tired and I didn't feel like dealing with a Jeep trail on my new Wing, Rick says I'm a wuss, so what. Anyway, we headed back to Grand Junction to look for a non-existent campground. We decided to eat first as it had been one very long day, then we found a campground about 10 miles down the road.
Day 3 - Monday,
September 12, 2005
(458 Miles)
We woke at 2:36am to the sound of rain. But, this rain was different in that it sounded like ch-ch-ch-ch then kachchchchchch. Well, we had unknowingly put up our tents next to a sprinkler system. I was lucky, I was only getting the spray at the end of two sprinklers. Rick was 3 feet from one and was getting pelted by the spray. After some laughing, okay a lot of laughing, Rick strategically timed the sprinklers, unzipped his tent and rain fly, and jumped out, zipping the tent back up. He then positioned
himself as an expert snake charmer would and rammed a rock into the gaping mouth of the mechanical water-spitting beast, saving the day.
The funny thing is the night before, Rick was considering not using his rain fly as the forecast was clear but with the temps starting to drop and the possibility of dew, he changed his mind. Our plan today was to hit Yellowstone. Well, plans are really nothing more than guidelines anyway. We made great time that morning heading out of Colorado and into Wyoming. There were some distant storms and the temps were starting to drop but we were managing to miss it all. Until the dreaded Hwy 287. As soon as we made the turn we had to pull off as it looked like we'd be going right into the storm, the perfect storm.
At first it was just a few small drops, then, with no notice what so ever, we had 50mph gusts of wind with constant 40 mph side winds. We almost drug pegs going straight down the road. The rain was like bullets and we were it's prey. This went on for about 40 miles. After that, it was cold and dreary. We kept making jokes about how at least it wasn't snowing. When we got to Dubois, Wyoming, at 3pm got gas and decided to have a late lunch/early dinner. Everyone was asking if we'd come from Yellowstone as there were 6 inches of snow on the mountain between here and there.
Needless to say, we ended up staying at the KOA in Dubois to see how the weather holds, as I was typing this it was 42 degrees and starting to rain. We ate at the Cowboy Cafe and met an Australian couple on the 7th month of their 1 year tour through the United States. They were headed east to New York then back through the southern states.
Day 4 - Tuesday,
September 13, 2005
(199 Miles)
The morning started with a temperature of 32 but the sky was clear. We had decided we'd head for Yellowstone and take a chance on the snow. The first mountain we went up made us feel like it was Christmas; snow-lined roads with the peaks of the Grand Tetons showing snow as well, the lowest temp was 28. Rick messed with the wiring on his CB and it was working flawlessly now.
When we hit the Grand Tetons, we ran into a 30 min traffic jam and then forgot to look for the turn for Yellowstone so we had a little backtracking to do but we weren't in any rush. There was a lot of cloud cover and we didn't think we'd get a good shot of the Tetons but we finally got a few good pics. After that, we got into Yellowstone and as we were looking at some of the rapids and falls along the southern entrance, it started to snow. We pulled off for gas at Grant Village and had a quick meal. After that, we found a campground and setup then went to catch Old Faithful. We got there about 20 mins before the next eruption and it was pretty cool to see.
On the way back, Rick saw a buffalo and took a pic then it started heading towards him, he took off. That evening we started a fire using a huge tree root because the temps were dropping, the damned thing burned all night.
Day 5 - Wednesday,
September 14, 2005
(157 Miles-10 hours)
It was 21 degrees when we woke with frost on everything. Rick's GS was not a happy camper; it took several tries to get it started. Then, it leaked gas and shock oil. But, after it warmed up, it stopped and was happy again. bToday was basically a park tour to see the sights as most of the time we just ride to a park for the roads and never see the attractions. As soon as we had breakfast and started riding we saw a couple Elk crossing the road. Rick got a great pic.
Further down the road, I tried to play chicken with a Buffalo. Sure glad the Wing has reverse. When we first rode up on them they were just standing and grazing then, all of a sudden, a couple decided to cross the road. One of them looked straight at me and started to walk my direction. I backed up. After they crossed we carefully passed the rest in a low gears and ready to roll on the throttle. We saw probably 100-150 Buffalo all day.
We road a figure eight through the park and saw most of the Geysers and Falls that were easy to get to. We walked forever to see the Mammoth Falls Geyers and it was somewhat of a disappointment, it would have been nice if we'd known we could get there from further down the road instead of the never ending uphill walkway.
We burned through some non-traffic twisties for about 5 miles. We returned to camp for dinner and on our way saw a big Bull Elk from a bridge, we stopped and took some pics. Later, as Rick was looking for firewood, that same Elk showed up about 100 yards away. He cautiously returned to camp. This was our last day in Yellowstone.
Day 6 - Thursday,
September 15, 2005
(592 Miles)
It was 21 degrees this morning, AGAIN! But, it didn't 'feel' as cold as the previous morning. This was our morning to head out of Yellowstone and towards Mt. Evans. As I got on my bike while it was on the center stand and rocked it forward, I forgot to put it in gear and when it touched it was at an angle and tipped right over on the left side. No damage to bike or rider just walked off it and then put it back up. Not a good start but we were on our way now.
I was getting great mileage and I was at 213 for the tank with no low fuel light on so we kept heading out of the park to the next 'village' where there seems to be Conoco stations situated. Well, my reserve light finally came on at 222 miles and then we found out the station was closed so we had to backtrack another 16 miles, slowly, through Buffalo territory. I finally pulled into a station with 262 miles for the take and filled it with 6.2 gallons, it holds 6.3. We left the park out of the east entrance and found a construction area on the side of the hill with gravel, deep ruts, mud and a drop off that was suicidal.
But, we did see a couple bear on our way out, and more Buffalo. It started to warm up which was good because my heated gear was acting 'funny'. Once we left the park we made some pretty good time through Wyoming to Colorado. The southern half of hwy 125 in Colorado is a really nice road. We ended up in Glen Lakes where we saw a huge Moose right off the main highway; I had no idea Moose were THAT big. Also, you can buy gas for 3.69/gallon here; we're going elsewhere for that in the morning. Oh yeah, Rick's bike is now making a chirping noise, but it's working fine.
Day 7 - Friday,
September 16, 2005
(605 Miles)
Our plan today was to get as close to or past Amarillo so our Saturday ride home was as short as possible.
We made it to Mt. Evans and started up but the road was closed at Summit Lake, we were told by a BMW rider from Oklahoma there was a blizzard the day before so we were lucky to get as far as we did. Heck, we even saw Nightrider and kingwing there.
On the way we saw a group of Harleys, maybe 20, heading the opposite direction. Following them were two trucks with trailers. No comment. To be fair, going in our direction, was saw two Goldwings on trailers with their trailers trailing behind the end of the trailer. I just about started crying.
Today wasn't good for me, my throat started hurting and I could tell I was coming down with something. The 74 degree swing in temps from 21 to 95 degrees during the trip didn't help. Also, my air mattress had a pinhole in it and I woke up on the ground, 32 degree ground.
We were followed by 5 Corvettes from Raton, NM to near Dumas, TX. They were using CBs and we chatted for a while as they were running the same speed as us and were heading to San Antonio. It helped make that boring section of road a little more eventful.
The wind on this route was relentless. We'd have wind on our right side, take a left hand curve and instead off having wind at our backs, would be back on our left. It just didn't make sense. At times the wind seemed like it was circular. Not a fun day riding in the wind, but we rode through it.
We ended up at a KOA in Amarillo where Rick headed off to bring back dinner and some nyquil for me. I was beat.
Day 8 - Saturday,
September 17, 2005
(Joe-358 Miles Rick-599 Miles)
For the first time in the trip I didn't even need to use my sleeping bag. Woke up to 65-70 degree temps and I was feeling much better. We headed out with not much to say. The last day of a trip with a good friend is typically compared to going to a funeral. Truly a sad ending to a fulfilling ride.
I have to say this was the best trip I've ever been on and I have to thank Rick for being a great friend and being patient with me.
Here are the rest of the pics:
Mellow's Pics Rick's Pics
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