Motorcycle trip out west.

On Sunday August the 9th, Dale (a friend and business partner), Joe (my youngest brother) and I headed out on our 10-12 day motorcycle trip. Dale and I left Savage at 7:00 AM and headed up I-94 to meet Joe in Fargo. We planned to meet at the Subway in Fargo. To my surprise my other brother Glen drove up with Joe. After lunch Glen headed back home as Dale, Joe and I headed out on our trip. This is going to be a riding trip rather than a sightseeing trip. I will be riding my 1998 Moto Guzzi, Dale his 1999 Victory and Joe will on his 2003 Victory.




We had real nice riding weather until the end of the day. It looked like we were going to be able to make Glendive, MT, but when we got to Dickinson, ND we could see this storm brewing in front of us. There is also a little road kill on the windshield.
We stopped to put on our rain gear and managed to squeeze through the storms with a minimum of rain but by the time we got to Medora, ND we figured we had better stop for the night as it looked like our luck was not going to hold up. So after 583 miles we called it a day.



Here we are leaving Medora the next morning.














We had ridden only 25 miles before our first stop of the day. We tried to get a picture as we entered each state.
Once we got to Glendive, MT we got off the Interstate and picked up MT Hwy 200.










Here we are taking a break along Hwy 200. We tried to take a stop for a break every hour.
We stopped in Choteau, Mt for the night after riding 493.4 miles. Do I need to say that no one had trouble sleeping on this trip?


On Tuesday when we got ready to leave, I could not find my riding pants. It turns out I must have left them lay on the motorcycle overnight and someone took them. Well there went $297. Today we drove north on US Hwy 89 to St Mary, MT where we connected up with the “Going To The Sun Road” for our ride through Glacier National Park.


Taking another break as we head into Glacier Park.












Here we are riding next to St Mary Lake (on our left) in Glacier Park. Joe is getting pretty good at taking pictures on the fly.












This is one of the picturesque streams in the park.

They were several areas of road construction.












After leaving the park we picked up US Hwy 93 and headed to Eureka, MT before heading south on MT Hwy 37 to Libby, MT where we spent the night. We still managed to put on 292 miles for the day.




When we got up on Wednesday the 12th it was raining. Not heavy, but rain nevertheless and it stayed with us for about ¾ of the day. Even with the rain it was a beautiful ride.

We followed US Hwy 2 into Idaho where, at Bonners Ferry, we made our first repair of the trip. While driving thru town I could smell a little hot rubber and also heard a rattle it the front of the bike. After pulling over we figured it was a rock in my brake caliper. After pulling the caliper we spun the tire and could still hear the noise, so we pulled the other brake caliper but still had the noise. Now we figured we have front wheel bearings going bad (which is bad news), but after spinning the wheel some more we found that a screw securing the front fender had worked loose and was rubbing on the tire. After tightening it up, all was well and we were on our way. Thankfully, that was the only mechanical problem we had on the road.

At Sandpoint, ID we went south on US Hwy 95 to Coeur d’Alene, ID where we stopped for lunch and to see if the rain would let up some.

The moose in Coeur d’Alene are a colorful breed.












After lunch we drove east a little so we could drive down the east side of Coeur d’Alene Lake which turned out to be a nice scenic drive. After going by the lake we crossed over into Washington and headed south to Lewiston, ID.


Just north of town we stopped on top of Lewiston Hill and took a look at the Spiral Road before we headed down the many switchbacks to town. Now days for the nonadventurous you can take the 4 lane highway into town, but for us, this was part of why we were here.


A shot of one of the switchbacks.






After pizza and a beverage of choice we did a little planning for the next day’s segment.
We spent the night in Lewiston and ended the day with 316 miles.











From Lewiston we headed east on US Hwy 12. I think we all agreed that this stretch was probably the best of the trip. It was easy riding with the river right alongside the highway and a lot of the road was through wilderness. What a ride.
After we got back into Montana we headed south on US Hwy 93 to Darby, MT where we stayed for the night. We traveled 278 today with rain most of the day.



About 45 miles south of Darby we were back into Idaho again. After riding 100 miles south on US Hwy 93 in ID we turned west on to ID Hwy 75 which we followed down to Sun Valley, ID. It rained pretty heavy on 75 until we got to Sun Valley where it was sunny and warm. After having lunch in the area we continued south to US Hwy 20 where we turned east to ride through Craters of the Moon National Monument. This is a large area of volcanic rock that looks like the cinders you get from burning coal, bu much larger in size.












From there we continued east on 20 to Idaho Falls, ID where we got on US Hwy 26 to ID Hwy 33 to the Wyoming boarder. I had wanted to show them the west side of the Grand Tetons, but the mountains were socked in with clouds so it was just a good ride thru some beautiful country. From the border we followed WY Hwy 22 into Jackson, WY where we spent the night.
This was a 514 mile day.


After breakfast on Saturday the 15th we headed north to the Grand Tetons National Park. Upon entering the park we went to the Gros Ventre Campground to visit and have coffee with our friends, Ron and Jane, from AZ. Before we got to the park we stopped to get some pictures of some buffalo and the Grand Tetons. I’m glad we stopped as this was the only time we got to see the mountains as when we came out of the campground they were covered in clouds.


When we stopped Jane snapped a couple of pictures, the one at the beginning of the blog and this one.
Like I said, when we left the campground we were not able to see the peaks of the mountains because the clouds.


From here we continued north to Yellowstone National Park where we took the west loop up to Mammoth Hot Springs. But, about three quarters of a mile before we got to Old Faithful area we hit a traffic jam that was the resultof President Obama was visiting the site.

After 30-45 minutes they took off in the helicopters. You can see the dust from the helicopters just above and to the right of the cars.
When we got to Mammoth Hot Springs we fueled up even though the price was high. When traveling on a motorcycle you have to get it when you can.





We left the park at the northeast entrance and headed to Red Lodge, MT so we could ride the Beartooth Highway. This was one of the roads we wanted to ride.


When we got towards the top of the Pass we ran in to some inclement weather. The temperature was 30 degrees with some sleet, and later fog. Then to top it off there was 19 miles of construction.




I think Joe is asking “whats up with this’.












Once we got past the west summit in Wyoming and hit the east summit in Montana the weather got better. At least it cleared up some but it was still cold. We continued on into Red Lodge where we spent the night. The total mile today was 285.


We had planned to back track on the Beartooth this morning and catch the Chief Joseph Highway into Cody, WY. But with the road construction going on we took a different route to Cody and picked up the Chief Joseph Highway on its east end and drove west on the road to the overlook and then backtracked to Cody. Here again was a nice riding road.













From Cody we headed east on US Hwy 14 through the Bighorn Mountains. Here we have just entered the Bighorns.













Once we got out of the Bighorns and hit I-90 we headed for the Black Hills in South Dakota. When we got to Gillette, WY we stopped and got a room for the night because of heavy rains in front of us. 353 miles for the day.



This morning we are headed to see Devil’s Tower and then ride in the Black Hills. Here we are approaching Devil’s Tower.



From Devil’s Tower we rode to Spearfish, SD where we drove into Spearfish Canyon. Dale says that it was kind of nice to ride the Black Hills when there weren’t so many bikes around.
This shows the progress on the Crazy Horse Monument.



Here we are on the Needles Highway waiting for traffic to get through one of the tunnels.


Are you sure a car can get through here?



After the Needles Highway we went to the east side of the park and drove north on Alternate 16. On this road all the tunnels were cut through the mountains so you look straight at Mount Rushmore.



This train runs from Keystone to Hill City. I think our road crossed the tracks 16 times.
We had to stop for this train a couple of times.












We spent the night in Sturgis. I don’t think we saw a dozen bikes in town and just two weeks earlier there were probably 300,000 in the area. We put a leisurely 267 miles on today.

Now it’s time to head home. Our route from Sturgis was SD Hwy 34 east to Hayes where we picked up US Hwy 14.


This was one of our stops on 34.
We made it as far as Marshall, MN before calling it a day.













On Wednesday the 19th, our last day of the trip, we woke up to rain and looked at the Weather Channel. We knew we were in for a bad day as the weather was moving from west to east. Since my waterproof riding pants were stolen I have been wearing a pair of wind breaker pants. They had worked pretty good in the lighter rains that we had up to now. But Dale and I had to ride in some pretty heavy rain all the way bay to the cities. Joe faired a little better as he headed north and eventually got out if the rain. When I got home my right boot had about ¾ of an inch of water in it. Good thing that happened on the last days because riding in wet boots would have been the pits.



Home again. GPS says 3981 mile, but I know it missed a few along the way. Every time
I start the bike it shuts down and restarts, so it’s not tracking for a minute or two until it gets through its start up menu. After figuring in a 3 percent error on my odometer, I calculated 4017 miles. So officially its 4017 miles in 10 1/2 days. Great ride guys.

If you are interested the are more pictures at this web site. There are cations under the pictures so be sure to scroll down far enough to see them.

http://picasaweb.google.com/dhassel999/2009MotorcycleTrip#

Now while I was off playing, Sandy was back home watching over the fiishing touches being done to the house. After I got back we still spent over a week before moving into the house on August 30. This is 2 years and 2 days after we sold our other house before going full-time in the RV

I'm off to Canada for 5 days to fish for Muskies. Then when I get back Sandy and I are heading to Hayward, WI with some friends to fish and relax for a week.

Until next time,
Dave and Sandy