After trying to wear out our welcome in Sturgis, we struck out on Monday morning in search of new scenery, winding roads and cooler temperatures and some history.
After a great breakfast (Note the emphasis on eating on this trip) in Deadwood, we headed for Spearfish Valley (photo) and 30 miles of beautiful countryside, and more twists and turns. I've determined the the sides of the new tires on my ride will be worn out before the center of the tires.
After successfully negotiating this piece of South Dakota highway heaven, we headed for an Interstate and a trip through Wyoming to Buffalo, Wyoming. After about five hours, we arrived at the Occidental Hotel and stepped back to a pre-1900 era facility, full of Old West memorabilia, complete with pictures, squeaky floors and a staff that was as friendly as I'm sure the staff of the hotel would have been in it's time.
Your blogger spent the night in the Herbert Hoover suite and the biggest adjustment was to the bathtub (no shower). Been a long time since a bathtub was in my house. After drinks, a round of cards complete with our own dealer, some pool and a delicious dinner, prepared especially for us by the staff (The dining room is usually closed but they brought in staff for us), we all headed off for a night's rest before our journey to Red Lodge, Montana.
On Tuesday morning, we were all at our bikes at 6:30 and ready to ride. Some of us, not too full from the previous nights repast, headed for a small diner accross the street from the Occidental and then we mounted our rides and headed toward Red Lodge.
The vastness of the territory is hard to describe but as we headed toward an elevation of 5,500 feet, things got a bit cooler and required some additional layering. The sun, like it has every day of this trip, shone brightly and the riders zoomed north and west across Wyoming and on to see yet another of our wonderful 50 states.
We traversed the distance quickly and arrived at the Pollard, another fine old hotel, completely restored, at one o'clock, several hours before being able to check in. An acquaintence of EB's and owner of the Rock Creek Lodge met up with us and we were all guests of Pepi Gramshammer for dinner of steaks, seafood and weinerschnizte.
Wednesday's journey would be a long one in terms of time but it would take us to 11,000 feet of elevation through Beartooth Pass, encounters with buffalo and a show by Old Faithful in Yellowstone Park and a ride by of the unbelievable Grand Teton Mountains.
We again started at 6:30 (This is an early riser crowd) and most were dressed with leather, warm gloves, electric clothing gear and layers of warmth for what was expected to be a cold ride.
As we approached Beartooth Pass, trees were fewer, the road narrowed and became a bit more tricky to navigate, but when we arrived at the top, the views were breathtaking. Mountain goats greeted us along the way.
Then we headed down the south side of the mountain towards Yellowstone. The speed limit through the park is 45 miles per hour. We tried hard to stay to it but when we had a chance, we pushed it as far as we thought we could.
Along our way, we saw what looked like thousands of buffalo and on several occassions, we were forced to stop to allow the huge animals to cross. One decided to stand in the middle of the road for about 20 minutes but like all the other vehicles in line, we had to wait until he decided to move.
After lunch and visit to Old Faithful, we headed out of the park and on a beautiful and scenic ride by the Grand Tetons. Words don't decribe the majesty of these peaks.
We arrived in Jackson, had dinner with friends of EB's and retired after our 10-hour ride day, thinking about what the next day had in store for us on this amazing ride to Sturgis and beyond.
—Lon Carruth