We did some exploring around town today. Drove to the Great Falls that the town was named for. Then to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center and the Charlie Russell museum. In the middle of the day hit a Perkins restaurant and had to have some pie.
The party’s over tonight so tomorrow Steve and I head to Sheridan, WY via scenic routes.
The rally officially opened today so we checked out the vendors but didn’t see anything I had to have. Quite a few more K1600 riders showed up and pitched their tents.
We got a nice rain shower this afternoon then 5 of us took a Uber ride to a steak house for supper.
Here are some pictures.
We had a nice ride to the rally site here in Great Falls through rolling hills with the snow capped mountains in the distance.
We arrived around 1:30 and an hour later watched them set up the tent. We’re planted now until Sunday morning.
We left Dubois this morning around 8:30 and rode West to the Tetons then North through Yellowstone.
What a zoo that was. I swear there were 2 years worth of tourists in the park. Long strings of cars and motor homes all going 5-10 under the 45 mph speed limit. Then all the attraction pull offs were crammed full with 1/4 mile stretches in both directions of vehicles parked on the side of the road. We didn’t stop at any of them which is sad. Steve and I have been there several times over the years but it would have been nice to see some of prettier hot springs again.
One of the roads we planned on taking to get out of the park is under construction so we had to take an hour or more detour. We were able to connect to Beartooth Highway though.
On the North end of Beartooth is Red Lodge, MT where we are staying in a KOA Kabin for the night.
So with no stops in Yellowstone I don’t have any pictures in the park.
I did take some fresh ones of the Tetons and a couple along Beartooth.
We are off to the BMW MOA rally in Great Falls, MT tomorrow.
Today we rode to the Teton Mountains and the town of Jackson. Parked our bikes and wandered around town. At noon the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar opened so we went in to look around and have a couple beers and a sandwich. It’s pretty cool with lots of unique architecture. The seats at the bar are western saddles.
There were a lot of tourists in town so it was fairly crowded. At around 3:00 we headed back to Dubois to do a little laundry and get ready to go to town for dinner, this being Steve’s birthday and all.
Here are pictures that were taken today.
Today is a down day as far as riding is concerned. Our host, Mark, had to go back to Arizona do to family obligations so Steve and I are left without any adult supervision. We spent the morning familiarizing ourselves with Sena helmet communication devices. Then I washed the bugs from my bike and did a cursory check of its road worthiness. I brought my GS-911 diagnostics gizmo and hooked it up to Steve’s bike. There were some old fault codes that I erased and we set the maintenance interval reminder ahead some 30,000 miles.
A trip to town for a burger was in order and while there we picked up a few groceries for tonight and tomorrow. We will get plenty of opportunities to eat in restaurants during the next couple weeks.
We have a plan for a ride tomorrow but I’ll hold off on explaining that until then.
Another early morning. I set the alarm for 5:30 am but woke up at 3:30 wide awake so I figured why fight it and got up. It was about 70 but I knew I would ride in some higher elevation in the morning hours so I put on my heavy jacket. Sure enough at about day break I stopped and added a fleece shirt underneath..
I rode highway 139;North out of Loma, CO. What a great road, lots of elevation changes and both tight and sweeping curves. Fortunately the sun came up as I was negotiating deer and open range cattle on the side of the road. I love my Clearwater Ericas driving spot lights.
I stopped in Naples, UT which is near Vernal for breakfast. I had brought up Denny’s on my GPS but before I got there I saw Abby's Restaurant with the open sign out. I whipped in there and had a nice pancakes, ham and eggs meal.
At 11:00 I drove into Farson, WY home of the Big Cone. I’ve stopped there before and was determined to drive on by but…..the bike turned in just like a devining rod. Far be it for me to argue with outside forces so I parked and bought a “baby cone”. Imagine what a double scoop must be like.
No lunch needed so I carried on to our friend, Mark Quigley’s house in Dubois, WY. Steve had arrived earlier so we compared our ride experiences the past 2 days.
Pizza for supper and I’m sure an early bedtime tonight.
