Summer Adventure Diary
8/22-8/28: Ely, Nevada Click here for Ely pictures.
We're in Ely. We drove from Polson to Pocatello - with a horrible headwind as we headed south on I-15. Our fuel mileage was about 6 mpg. It was awful. The drive to Ely was fine, and we're glad to be in a drier climate. (15% humidity, and 90 degrees). We'll get some dirt riding in on some of our favorite roads, and then head home on Thursday. We can't believe it's been three months already - what a great trip!
Wed 8/26 we took our favorite ride over Success Summit and out to Duck Creek. We picnicked at Bird Creek - a new area that we hadn't seen before. We saw a herd of sheep with a dog guarding them. Lots of property for sale - the area is changing! We never get tired of this ride - it is so beautiful.
8/14 - 8/21: Polson, Montana. Click here for pictures in and around Polson
We've had a great time with our friends Chuck and Joan Wood here in Polson. This KOA is beautiful and we have a view of Flathead Lake. Joan and I took a boat trip to Wild Horse Island and did some hiking while Chuck and Mike played golf. We went to Glacier National Park and took the Going to the Sun Road - which was spectacularly beautiful. Chuck's sister Sue and her husband Con arrived on Monday, and on Tuesday we went to Bigfork for dinner and a play - we saw Footloose. We had great fun. Tonight is our last night here, we'll have one last Bar-B-Que and then start heading home. We'll spend our last week in our favorite place - Ely, Nevada for some great dirt-bike riding.
8/7 - 8/14: Butte, Montana. Click here for pictures in Butte
We squeezed in one day of sightseeing with Nate on Friday. We saw the huge Berkeley Pit Copper Mine, and took a tour of the old underground city - including a Speakeasy that was used during Prohibition. Nate left on Saturday the 9th - and we're hanging out until the 14th when we head to Polson to meet our neighbors Chuck and Joan Wood. More updates later.
7/27 to 8/7: Cody, Wyoming. Click here for pictures in Cody, Yellowstone, and surrounding areas.
8/6: Today we rode out to the Bill Cody Dam and to the Trail Town site (the original site of Cody). It was fun to see - lots of old buildings from around Wyoming that have been moved to the site. Jeremiah Johnson is buried here. Tomorrow we head to Butte - and Nate flies home on Saturday - We can't believe it's been almost three weeks already!
8/5: Last night we had a great time at the Cody Nite Rodeo. It was exciting (especially the bull riding). Nate enjoyed it too. Today we went into Yellowstone again, to see the mud volcano. It was a boiling, stinky (like sulphur) pot of mud. We saw more bison, and had great views of the Yellowstone and Gunbarrel fires.
8/4: Today we drove to the Bighorn Canyon Wildlife Area. The scenery was beautiful and we were lucky enough to see a Bighorn Sheep, and some Pryor Mountain wild Mustangs. Tonight we're going to the rodeo.
8/1: Today we took the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway, and then went into Yellowstone Park through the Northeast entrance. It was a beautiful drive, and we saw several herds of buffalo (finally!). We saw the falls on the Yellowstone river, they were really rushing. A new fire started in Yellowstone which was quite distinct in the distance. The Gunbarrel fire (burning only 40 miles from Cody) has increased to 10,000 acres, and is quite close to the highway that we took home from Yellowstone. We watched the helicopter dipping into the Shoshone river for water. They have evacuated some of the lodges in the area close to the fire.
7/31: We spent the day at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, and spent a lot of time in the firearms museum. This evening we went to the Wild West gunfight in front of the Irma Hotel. It was a fun day.
7/30: Today we hung out, and saw the new X-Files movie. We came home and the smoke from the fires is unbelievable. There is actually ash falling on us! Click Here for Video of the Smoke
7/29: Today we rode the bikes to Yellowstone - to see Old Faithful. It was a beautiful ride, but long (250 miles and 8 hours). We went in the East Entrance to the park, over Sylvan Pass at 8500' and south around Yellowstone Lake. There are two wild fires burning close to Cody, one just west of town, and one in Montana on the border. There is a lot of smoke.
7/26: Hardin, Montana: We visited Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument this morning, and Pompey's Pillar where William Clark etched his name in a rock on the Yellowstone River on his return trip on the Lewis and Clark Expidition exactly 202 years and one day ago today. Nate enjoyed seeing all the history. Tomorrow we head to Cody, WY. Click here for pictures
7/18 to 7/25: Spearfish, South Dakota. Nate arrives on the 21st - YAY! Click here for Black Hills Pictures
7/24: Today Mike and Nate rode the Gold Wing to Sturgis, Deadwood, Lead and through Spearfish Canyon. I drove the truck because it was forecast to rain and I didn't want to ride in the rain. (It never did rain - rats). The scenery was beautiful, and we had a great time.
7/23: Today we visited Devil's Tower in Wyoming (think Close Encounters). We hiked around the base of it - there were lots of climbers. Then we drove to the Vore Buffalo Jump. This is where the Indians drove the buffalo off a cliff into a sink hole to get food, hides, etc. This was done in the 1500's to 1800 before horses were here and available to them. They think there are 20,000 buffalo in this one area! We drove through Aladdin on the way home to see the 110 year old store.
7/22: After we got Nate at the airport, we headed to Mt. Rushmore. We took the loop trail to get a closer look. After that we headed to Custer State Park and drove the wild animal loop. We saw lots of Pronghorn Antelope, some prairie dogs, some burros, and only ONE Bison on our way out of the park. I can't believe that! Nate was pretty whipped from his trip last week and then the flight today, so we came back to camp. He had a little swim, we had supper, and then roasted marshmallows on the fire. A great day! Today we're just hanging out and watching movies.
7/21: Yesterday we took a great dirt bike ride out of the campground, and made a loop that came back through Spearfish Canyon - what a great ride. We didn't think we'd get to ride dirt bikes while we were here. Today we get Nate at the airport, and then head to Mt Rushmore and Custer State Park.
7/7 to 7/14: In Ashton, Idaho. We have a view of the Teton Mountains! Click here for Ashton pictures
7/13: Today we took a dirt bike ride to Jackass Loop - some locals had recommended it. As usual the scenery was stunning, and we actually rode into Yellowstone Park. They had just opened the road last week - it had been snowed in until then! Great rides. We have to come back - there are roads everywhere - they're snowmobile trails in the winter.
7/12: We had a great 150 mile ride today to Jackson, Wyoming. The weather was perfect (very cool in the morning - cool enough for chaps), the scenery was beautiful. We rode along the western side of the Tetons, and over Teton Pass at 8431'. We had lunch at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar. A perfect day!
7/11: Today we had a great ride to Cave Falls (on the Falls River) on the dirt bikes. These falls are actually in Yellowstone Park in Wyoming, but you get there from Ashton. A few sandy ruts - but remember our motto - "Lift your ass and give it gas"! The mosquitoes were terrible, so we didn't hike to the falls. We had some beautiful views of the west side of the Tetons.
7/10: We drove the Henrys Fork Scenic Byway today, and then went to West Yellowstone for supper. A beautiful drive, and the wild flowers are spectacular.
7/9: We had a very enjoyable ride today on the road bikes. We took the Mesa Falls Scenic Byway out of Ashton. This road follows the Henrys Fork of the Snake River. The scenery is beautiful, the wildflowers are blooming like crazy, and it was a great ride. Tonight we're making a pot roast in the Dutch oven - yummy!
7/7: The trip was supposed to be routine, and only about 3 hours, but 90 miles into it the brake controller started giving us error messages, telling us there was a short, an overload, and no connection. This is the piece of hardware that's supposed to put the trailer brakes on when we apply the truck brakes! (Remember, the fully loaded trailer is 16,500 pounds!) So, we stopped in American Falls and parked while Mike tried to figure it all out. We decided to go on to Ashton, and stopped just south of Idaho Falls to buy a new brake controller (in case the old one was bad). Nope - it's the wiring on the trailer. So when we got to Ashton, Mike spent most of Tuesday working on the brake wiring. We unhooked the trailer from the RV site, drove 60 miles to test it, and it seems to be working fine now. Whew!
6/23 to 7/7: In and around Twin Falls, Idaho. Click here for Twin Falls Pictures
7/4: HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY! Yesterday evening we took a short river boat ride on the Snake River up to Pillar Falls. We have to come back in the spring to see these! Mike's hat blew off on the ride, and luckily the boat driver was able to turn and rescue the hat! Tonight we're seeing the fireworks show, and Monday we head to Ashton, Idaho.
7/2: Today we drove to City of Rocks National Reserve. A beautiful area that was on the California Trail that pioneers used - in 1852 52,000 people passed through the area. It would have been a great dirt-bike ride, but was too far from Twin Falls to get to on the bikes.
6/30: It's way too hot to ride, so we took a tour in the truck. We drove to Balanced Rock, Malad Gorge, and a place called Cauldron Linn (Linn is a Scottish word for waterfall), which is where the Snake River is only 40 feet wide - it was beautiful. A great day!
6/27: Today we rode the bikes to Sun Valley/Ketchum - about 150 miles round trip. It was a beautiful ride, and was cool enough for the leather jackets.
6/26: Today we went to Shoshone Falls, and down to the municipal golf course just to look around. We were at Shoshone Falls when we were here in May of '06 - what a difference between spring and summer water flow!
6/23: Today we drove from Logan to Twin Falls, via Promontory Summit, Utah. We saw where they drove the Golden Spike linking the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads. I'm glad we stopped by - only 30 miles or so out of the way. Mike rode the Gold Wing the entire trip and I drove the rig. Our campsite here at the Twin Falls KOA is great - we have a patio!
6/16 to 6/23: Click here for Logan, Utah pictures
We're in Logan, Utah - in the Cache Valley. This is a valley surrounded by snow-capped mountains, at about 4500'. Yesterday we went to the American West Heritage Center. They had a demonstration farm using tools from the early 1900's. They were making dinner (the noon-time meal) for the volunteers on a wood stove in the old Jensen farmhouse. They call it the Cache Valley because this is where the fur trappers would bury their furs for safe-keeping in their "cache".
6/18 we took a short 60 mile loop through the Cache Valley to Newton Reservoir. There is a lot of farmland, and a very strong smell of cows everywhere. Ed was with us the entire trip.
6/19 we rode the dirt bikes up the Blacksmith Fork Canyon in the Bear River Mountains to the Hardware Ranch Wildlife Management Area. They manage a herd of Elk up there - it's about 5500'. A beautiful ride on a mostly paved, winding road along the Blacksmith Fork river. We took a partial side ride up Left Hand Fork canyon to see the campgrounds - the road was very rocky.
6/20 Mike rode to Bear Lake - I drove in the truck. I just wasn't up for a winding, mountain road. The lake was at 5600' - a very beautiful area.
6/21: check out the pictures of the custom motor home in our RV park!
Monday the 23rd we head to Twin Falls, ID, so more later!
6/2 to 6/16: Click here for Vernal, Utah pictures
We're staying in Vernal, Utah. There is lots to see around here, and we decided to just park for a couple of weeks to save fuel. The first three days we've been rained in, so it felt really great to get out today (Friday the 6th) for a ride. We rode over Diamond Mountain to the Jones Hole Fish Hatchery. We saw some really beautiful countryside, but it was COLD. I got to wear my chaps for the first time - unbelievable for June!
Monday the 9th - yesterday we took a short ride on the street bikes to Dinosaur, Colorado. It was a beautiful ride, but really windy. Today we took the dirt bikes to ride down to the Green River over the Swinging Bridge. I didn't make it that far... after all the rains the road was awful - really rutted. So I turned around and Mike went on. One upside - Ed finally rode with us on the dirt bikes! It was also cold and windy - so we were glad to get back to camp today!
Wednesday June 11th - COLD and WINDY again! So we took the truck to the Canyon Area of Dinosaur National Monument (just over the Colorado border). It was a beautiful drive - and we took the Echo Park road (a thrilling switchback dirt road down to the river). A fun day and beautiful, breathtaking scenery.
Friday June 13th: Today was beautiful, warmer, and much less windy. We took a short 45 mile ride, up Dry Fork Canyon, and picnicked on part of the Red Cloud Loop by Dry Fork Creek. We stopped at McConkie Ranch to see some unusual petroglyphs. Ed rode with us again today.
5/30 to 6/1: We're in Moab, Utah for a weekend of off-road adventures with the Noonans and the Derwaes. Friday we rode dirt bikes up into the La Sal Mountains, had a picnic by an alpine lake, and then looped back into Moab. Saturday we went into Canyonlands National Park for the Gemini Bridges ride. Mike, Mark, and Wayne rode dirt bikes, and Lynn and I rode in the Jeep. Sunday Mike and I rode the street bikes to Natural Bridges National Monument - 235 miles round trip - a great ride. Lynn, Mark, Wayne, and Margo went hiking in Canyonlands. Click here for pictures: Moab Pictures Here are Mark's pictures: Mark's Moab pictures
5/29: We had a spectacular few days in Colorado Springs for the Air Force Academy graduation. It was a once in a lifetime experience, and we are very honored to have been included. Click here to see pictures: AFA Graduation. Unfortunately it was very cold, cloudy, and drizzly so none of the scheduled fly overs or air shows occurred. Here is a link to Mark Noonan's pictures - he got some GREAT shots of Andy with President Bush. Mark's Pictures
5/23: We're packed and ready to go. We've done a trial run of loading the motorcycles, and they all fit! We leave tomorrow at 0600.
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