Three weeks after our accident in Colorado in 1994 we were riding a new GL1500 Goldwing. Along with our riding friends, Kenny & Darlene, we began making plans for a vacation trip to the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone. To avoid a lot of interstate travel we decided to take highway 20 across Nebraska all the way to Casper, Wyoming. Our first night we stayed in O’Neil, NE. Luckily, we had reservations because hundreds of motorcycles were headed for Sturgis, SD.
The next day was a Sunday.
We headed west on highway 20. Now
in western Nebraska on Highway 20 there are few towns, all with closed (Sunday)
gas stations. I called Kenny on the CB and asked how his gas supply was
holding out. He said his red light
had come on about 10 miles back and he was getting worried. I said we had better slow down a little to conserve our gas
as the nearest probably gas supply was at Lusk, WY. about 25 miles away.
Finally we pulled into a station in Lusk (on fumes I think).
There were about 50 bikes gassing up there heading for Sturgis, of
course. As a matter of fact the
station had attendants with head sets at the pumps checking and reporting each
fill to the cashier inside. (You
don’t know who you can trust. Ha!) I
put in more gas at that fill than anytime before or since.
We continued on to Douglas, WY where we stayed that night.
After breakfast the next morning
we took highway 220 down to Independence Rock.
People were climbing all over the Rock.
Darlene headed for the top
(and made it). The rest of us were
content just to look and take pictures. Then
we rode on to Lander, took some pictures in the Wind River Canyon, and stopped
in Dubois, WY for the night.
It was raining the next morning
so we delayed our departure for about an hour until things began clearing up.
We rode over Togwatee Pass and on to the entrance of Grand Teton Nat’l
Park. Stopped at Jackson Lake
Marina for lunch, and gas?? (We
still had at least half a tank but Kenny wasn’t going to take any chances on
running low again. Ha!)
We rode the loop through the park
twice, stopping at Jenny Lake, Colter Bay and Jackson Dam for pictures.
Then on to Yellowstone.
We had reservations at a resort
west of West Yellowstone. Entering
Yellowstone at the south entrance we rode past Old Faithful to Madison Junction
and then west out of the park to West Yellowstone. Road construction is an ongoing thing in Yellowstone.
One way traffic on a road filled with pot holes, loose gravel being wet
down to keep the dust down and slippery is not a motorcyclist’s idea of fun.
We made it without any mishap but decided to take a bus tour of the Park
the next day instead of riding around the Park.
On a motorcycle you stop, dismount, lock up your helmets, take out your
cameras, take pictures, etc. then put your cameras away, unlock your helmets,
put them on and ride to the next stop. Repeat
the same routine time and time again. On
the bus you hold your cameras in your lap, jump off the bus, take your pictures
and jump back on the bus. Easy,
huh? Also, no worries about bad
road conditions and the bus took us to places we might have overlooked on our
own.
Stopping at Old Faithful I went
to the Old Faithful Inn where I had stayed 45 years earlier.
(See “Old” West Tale Story). I
asked if you were still required to wear a coat and tie to eat at the restaurant
there. They laughed and said no,
dress was very informal nowadays. Ha!
We saw Firehole Falls, Old
Faithful, Upper and Lower Falls, Canyon of the Yellowstone, thousands of bison,
some elk, etc. (Amazingly, this
last year we again passed through Yellowstone and only saw ONE bison.
Where did they all disappear?
Leaving our resort the next
morning we rode down the west side of the mountains, over Teton Pass and in to
Jackson Hole. We stopped at a small
café on the way for breakfast. LaVonne,
my wife, ordered a single pancake. It
would have been enough to feed all four of us as it hung over the plate two-three inches on all sides.
We spent the day in Jackson Hole,
sightseeing and shopping, then rode to Hoback Junction and over into Idaho,
returning to West Yellowstone via Targhee Pass.
I’ve always wanted to see
Earthquake Lake, formed by the earthquake northwest of Yellowstone in 1959.
I first heard about the earthquake the next day while I was 800 feet
underground in Carlsbad Caverns. Scary,
huh? Half the mountain collapsed
and dammed up the river. Engineers
hurriedly dug a channel for the river to flow or it would have backed up and
flooded a couple of small communities upstream.
As it was, “Earthquake Lake” was formed.
We departed West Yellowstone the
next day. Kenny and Darlene wanted
to ride the Beartooth Highway. I
had been over the Beartooth Highway 3 times before, once on a motorcycle and
twice with car, but I wanted to stop in Cody and take a picture of my Goldwing
by the Buffalo Bill statue, similar to the picture I had taken 45 years ago with
my Harley. (Again, see the
“Old” West tale story.) We
parted company, planning to meet in Lovell, WY later that evening.
LaVonne and I started down the Chief Joseph Memorial Highway to Cody.
A few miles down the road we came upon a sign – “Pavement ends 23
miles ahead”. It was about 50
miles to Cody yet. I stopped a car
coming from that direction and asked about the road.
They said it was just a “little” construction on a hill, about 2
miles long and good road. Well, it
was similar to the Yellowstone construction zones, loose gravel, wet and
slippery and over 8 miles long. Well,
we made it slowly but safely, took our pictures and went on to Lovell. Our friends were late getting there. They had a few scary moments because of the windy conditions
going over the mountain.
Because of a terrific wind the
next day we were riding a quite an “angle” when we came to a bridge.
The wind was blowing sheets of water over the roadway.
Luckily, we ducked between a couple of waves and didn’t get wet.
We crossed the Bighorn Mountains and stopped for gas in some small town.
A fellow came over to me and said I had a “short” in my headlight
because it was flashing. I told him
was supposed to flash. (I had a
headlight modulator on the bike).
LaVonne and I stopped in Gillette
for the night. Kenny and Darlene,
anxious to get home continued on. We
drove as far as Kadoka, SD the next day, then on to Council Bluffs, IA for my
wife to attend a company telephone meeting.
Being only 300 miles from our daughter’s home in Hutchinson, KS we decided
to swing down there and visit for a couple of days. Also, wash all the bugs off the motorcycle, change oil, etc.
A few days later we rode to Liberty, MO for a visit with our other
daughter and then home to Monona.
Guess what - - no accidents!
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