WOW!!!!! words can not describe it.
But before I start, I want to give a big shout out to my wife and son for all of their support during this trip.
I’m going to approach this a little different, and summarize it through categories, here we go....
Biggest Highlight
Looking back there were tons of highlights, but the Tetons is the most memorable. Seeing them up close for the first time was unbelievable. We left Rock Springs and rode Rt 191 towards Jackson Hole, WY. As we were going down a mountain pass on the Bridger-Tetons National Forest, the hills went down and there on the center-left she just popped out of nowhere and you saw all of her glory...OMG....she was a beautiful sight, I could’ve pulled over and just stared at her for hours...hey, I’m talking about snow covered mountains here..lol
Most disappointment
Yellowstone. I know, I know, this is the main reason why I went on the trip, but it was kinda boring. Yeah I saw Ol Faithful erupt, 90 minutes of waiting (10 minutes of teasing us) for boiling water to shoot up more than a 100 ft for three minutes. At least we had good seats. We were able to snatch some rocking chairs in front of the cafeteria after we ate lunch, still I almost fell asleep. Good thing Mary wanted to see more of it as the colorful hot spring was very cool.
Best Road
Needles highway. Drove through it over 10 years ago, but this time I rode on it, very cool. Over 10 hairpin turns, 6 mountain tunnels - three of which you saw Mt Rushmore, Buffalo herd blocked the road - not once but twice, three pigtail bridges (over 360 degree turns), granite mountain formations all over, narrow and high roads with no guardrails....oh yeah, it was awesome.
Most Surprising
The Badlands, I did not know how cool this place was. It goes really high and you can see the entire valley, how millions of years of erosion has shaped that area, almost reminded me of the Grand Canyon, but in yellow...lol. The colors of the minerals that are imprinted on the rocks before we exited the park was really cool (I got to stop saying “cool” and use another word..lol)
Funniest moment
After riding the needles highway, we ate lunch at a local place in Keystone, after paying for lunch, a daughter driving her mother parked next to my bike, the mother appeared to be in her late 80s, early 90s and used a walker, she saw I was paying close attention to make sure the passenger door did not hit my bike, right before she entered the diner she says to me “Don’t worry, I was very careful and made sure that the door did not strike your bike, because if I did, I know you would’ve kicked my ass”. Oh man did I laugh my ass off.
Scariest moment
Toss up: after Needles highway and lunch, we rode back to our motel in Rapid City, I lead, Mary was second, and Mike was riding tail, halfway though the ride, I did not see Mike, we pull over and waited for like 10 minutes, I went back looking for him, in my head I was prepping for the worse, then all of the sudden I see him and he beeps at me as if nothing happened..son of a B....a plastic bag came out from Mary’s saddlebag a few miles back....Mike don’t you ever do that to me again, you hear!!! The other incident involved me when I was returning home alone. Right before going on 80, in Illinois, I was following a truck hauling a backhoe, well a rock a little bigger than a golf ball dislodged and hit my helmet. My ears were ringing for a good minute or two. Good thing I was wearing my 3/4 face helmet and not my 1/2 helmet or it could’ve hit the top of my face, I don’t want to think about it.
Best Tool
My Iphone, you hear that Mike and Mary, “my f..ing iPhone!!!!!!” Facetime was awesome. Seeing the family on video beats talking to them by a mile. Took all of my pics with it and posted the good ones on facebook. The weather and radar apps were the best. It told us where it was raining and where it wasn’t and we were able to make decisions where to ride for the day. Heard music as I was riding, this phone can do it all. So can a Droid, when it is working correctly, from what I’ve heard...doh...lol
Best traveling techniques
The Machnica Method. Man can they choose a cheap and clean motel, they taught me so well that I was able to pick one myself when traveling alone when going back home in South Bend, Indiana. I budgeted $100/night for accommodations, for this trip, I avg less than $55/night. And asking the locals for recommending places to eat, WOW. How can you beat R&B Breakfast and Lew’s Restaurant, what about The Oasis, which btw, had the best bed and pillows of all of them, oh man did I sleep so good that night. In addition, the day off at Jackson Hole was pure genius, we...I needed that, not the shoe in my face, but the rest...lol
Best State:
Wyoming. Wow this is a very diverse beautiful state. It has everything. grassland, mountains, rock formations, and a dessert, yup a dessert, who would’ve thought.
Best Scenic Rides
Black Hills, South Dakota. Spearfish Canyon Highway, Needles Highway, the list goes on an on. Highly recommend this area.
Worst Drivers:
South Dakota. Sorry for those who live there but you would’ve thought that the place that holds the biggest motorcycle rally would’ve paid close attention to motorcyclist. We got cut off so many times, one almost clipping Mary. Sheesh, I think all of them need to take safety driving classes again.
Most Frustrating
My FOB security system. Resetting reaction times was very slow. In some instances, it felt like the bike would not start, I had to wait for it to reset, and start the entire start process twice and sometimes three times for the bike to fire up.
Best riding companions
Mike and Mary. Yeah we know Mary is a hell of a rider, and Mike, well he is also a badass, but they are truly blessed. Yeah he is devoted strict ultra conservative, but I can forgive him for that, not everybody is perfect...lol. I had such a ball with them. We laughed so much. This felt like a “vacation”, very relaxed, no specific agenda/goal for the day, we adjusted to each other, doing the thing we enjoyed the most, riding. If it wasn’t for these two wonderful people, the trip would’ve not been as memorable. Thank you!!!
Milestones/notables
Rode through 10 new states, OH - IN - IL - IA - NE - CO - WY - SD - MN - WI
Total Round trip miles: 5,219.6
Best time: PA, going back home 4 hours and 15 minutes, 313 miles, one gas stop for about 10 minutes (gas, bathroom, 5 hour energy drink, banana) = 73.6 mph..wow!!!
Even with what I noted above, I have not even scratched the surface of the trip. How can I? I will post a link of pics and videos I took in the near future, but as someone told me, pictures does not do what we saw justice. If you are thinking of doing this, don’t think, DO IT!!!!! You will never regret it.
