Dirt_Dad
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I asked my wife (Dirt_Mom...DM) where she would like to go for our 30th Anniversary. I gave her the choice of any place in the world she would like to see. It didn't take her all that long to tell me she enjoyed our long rides, we're still young enough to do them, and she'd rather go for a ride then fly away to some place. I knew there was a reason we've been married over 30 years now.
We decided we enjoyed our tour of the western states in 2015 and decided we'd go out to Glacier National Park to see Going to the Sun Road this time. While talking about this plan at work someone suggested that if we go that far we should make sure to go to Banff. I had no idea what Banff was, so I looked it up. That looked interesting and while checking the map I noticed a place called Ice Field Parkway just above it. Research showed that also looked interesting, we should add that to the trip. That's when I noticed how close Ice Field was to the lower southern tip of Alaska. Hum...we'd be so close, we should go touch Alaska to say we've been there. Yep, that's the plan. We'll do Glacier, Banff, Ice Field Parkway, and jump into Hyder, Alaska before returning home.
After much discussion I decided this was to celebrate our 30th, so why not take off 3 weeks and actually really do Alaska. We then made plans to ride to the Arctic Circle, explore Alaska then ship the bikes home from Anchorage. Since we had to go west for this trip we decided to ride to the Grand Tetons (a favorite from our 2015 ride) before heading north. We finally had a plan in place.
Bikes were prepped
Day 1 - Northern Virginia to California, PA
167 miles
Left work early today to get a jump on the trip. Figured we could get in at least 6 hours heading west, probably make it to Ohio. It was hot and very humid when we hit the road this afternoon. Tropical Storm Cindy was making its way to the area and atmosphere was unstable. We'll certainly be hitting rain, but still expect to get in a few hundred miles over 6 or 7 hours today.
Despite our (my) declaration we would pack light for this trip, both bikes felt heavy and sluggish as we started. Not really surprised. We've never been successful at taking only what we need.
Made it to the Pennsylvania line with no rain. Sky was looking threatening so we stopped for gas and to see if we could get enough wifi to check the radar on the phone. No luck on wifi, but the 45 minute old radar picture on my Garmin Zumo 660 didn't look all that bad. Zipped vents closed and prepared for some rain. DM decides to keep wearing her fingerless gloves rather than switching to the hotter rain gloves. A few minutes later the rain started and the road ahead looked darker than expected.
15 minutes after the gas stop it's raining so hard the cars are pulling off the road because their fast wiper speed just isn't enough. Hard to imagine what they were thinking as they watched us go by. Fortunately our anti-fog and waterproof gear was working as expected, we were dry with good visibility and pressed on. For the next hour we ignored the hard rain and the primary source of frustration was inflicted by the automated toll booths on the PA Turnpike. They are annoying and very glitch prone. Not fun to fight with in the pouring rain.
With the last toll booth behind us we are nearing our first interstate, I-70...time to start munching some miles. That's when the lightening flashed ahead of us. Crap! I do hate riding in lightening, want nothing to do with it. We take the first exit into California, PA. As we are riding into town a "Tornado Warning" appears on my Zumo screen. I really want nothing to do with that. We duck into a Subway to check the radar, get a bite to eat, and figure out what we need to do. By the time we take our gear off and sit it looks like we brought in a bucket of water and dumped throughout the store.
The bikes patiently wait outside Subway ready to carry out our decision.
Unfortunately with tornado warnings outside we decide to cut today short. We end the day less than 170 miles from home. It's a bit disappointing. The disappointment only grew when I found my left gore-tex boot actually leaked. Not a lot, but my illusion that gore-tex could never leak is shattered.
DM heads to the bathroom to try to scrub the black dye from her fingerless gloves which had bled and completely stained her hands. This was attempt number 2 since the soap at Subway was useless for removing dye. Quite a start to the ride.
Day 2 - California, PA to Burlington, IA
675 miles
Morning at the hotel.
Initial wet roads give way to a gorgeous day. An absolutely perfect day for a long ride. Ideal weather made it easy to knock down one state after another. Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana and the confusion of getting through Indianapolis. We took a break in Illinois. Just a few minutes off the bikes to study maps at McDonalds.
Back on the bikes, get to Peoria and turn directly west towards the Mississippi. Two hours later it was time for a gas stop. That's when I discovered my credit card was missing. DM is not pleased with my ability to lose things. As she is ripping apart my wallet and tank bag looking for the card a Harley rider from the pump on our right comes walking over. He's fascinated with these strange looking bikes. He asks a few questions about the bikes, then asks me about big-foot in Virginia. I tell him I think they are only in Washington. He assures me they are everywhere and tells me he found a big-foot nest on his ride last week. After he finishes explaining the structure of a big-foot nest I assure him I'll keep an eye out for them in the future. He rides off happy. The couple on the Harley to our left are also amused by our strange bikes. A couple of questions later they ask where we're going. When they hear Alaska they just laugh, wish us well and ride off with big smiles.
When I ask DM what she thought about the guy inquiring about big-foot in Virginia she has absolutely no idea what I'm talking about. She heard none of it and between the lost credit card and now talking about big-foot I believe she is wondering about my sanity.
We cross the Mississippi River and reach Burlington, Iowa. Burlington appears to take their minor league baseball very seriously. We're told the hotels are mostly sold out due to the baseball games in town. We stop at a local BBQ place to figure out our next move. The Goldwing rider in line behind us tells us he found a hotel in town and they still have rooms. A local couple started asking us about what we were doing so far from home. They happily told us about their town and told us we must check out Snake Alley. They were great to speak with and they were the first of many great people we'd encounter on this trip.
After eating, our new Glodwing friend led us to the motel he found. He was on his 16th day of his trip out to California. The motel wasn't pretty, it wasn't what I'd call clean, but it was available, had a very friendly proprietor, so we spent the $60 for the night and just didn't unpack that evening.
Even at $60 the room came with two orange top water bottles that will travel all the way to Alaska with us. You'll see them on the bags behind us in nearly all the pictures of the bike from this point forward.
Day 3 - Burlington, IA to Sidney, NE
710 Miles
Out the door by 6:30am we head straight to Snake Alley.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYp-tY_crig
Bottom of Snake Alley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iHKs3waaa4
Yes, DM hit the ground due to bad footing on the Snake. I'm sure I contributed to this since I did not leave her a lot of options on where to stop. Even with a lowered Tenere the bike is still enormous to a 5'6" DM. Where to stop is a big consideration and I should have left her more options. What impressed me was how quickly helpful people appeared. I didn't even have my bike parked before these two guys were there and lifting her bike. They were so helpful and a much appreciated example of how people are willing to step up and do what they could for a motorcyclist (probably anyone). We stood there and talked for a minute or two afterwards. Great guys. DM felt embarrassed for a while despite my best attempts to remind her we all do it. But I understand, I'm embarrassed when I drop a bike, too.
It was another great weather day. We saw an interesting Welcome Home Soldier memorial under construction in Iowa.
We also saw a big John Deer factory, enormous farms in Iowa and Nebraska, farm equipment dealers nearly every 20 minutes, and a Harley dealer in every town. HD really owns the middle of the country. We were true oddities wherever we went. Hi-viz and strange (non-cruiser) bikes, we stood out. That actually was fun since everyone was curious and very friendly. We stopped for lunch and as soon as I opened a map at the table an older couple came up and started talking to us. They told us of what they experienced in Alaska and suggested things they enjoyed from their bus ride up there years ago. Later when walking by a table with a family sitting there the dad started asking questions and was just fascinated with the idea of where we had traveled in the past and where we were heading this time. They just seemed so taken with the idea people ride motorcycles to places that seem so far away. It was a fun way to spend lunch. All of us riders already know how special riding is on an individual level. It was a real pleasure seeing that our passion can bring smiles to others. A great stop.
It was our longest ride day ever. When got to hotel we were so exhausted we didn't bother with dinner. I walked to the lobby and found a couple of cookies near the check-in desk. Good enough. We each had a cookie, drank from our CamelBacks and called it a night.
Day 4 Sidney, NE to Dubois, WY
430 miles (approx - I stopped paying attention to it at this point)
DD useless/short lived/ignored declaration: We don’t need to hammer the miles anymore, we can slow down and let vacation begin.
DM quote of the day : You tried to kill me...you tried to kill me...I can't believe you tried to kill me.
Yet another perfect day. Can’t believe how lucky we’ve been with weather. We cross into Wyoming and the terrain almost immediately changes. We love Wyoming. It feels like we’re in the West again. The 80 MPH speed limit makes munching miles easy. We stop in Rawlins for lunch. The first town we’ve repeated since our 2015 ride. It's getting warm at this point and after dragging DM through the downtown section of Rawlins looking for the hotel and restruant we were at 2 years ago, I finally give up and we head back over to where we saw a McDonalds. As we were eating, a guy named Rob comes up and introduces himself. He was from Back Country Discovery and wanted to say hello to the riders of the Virginia bikes he’d seen in the parking lot. We had a nice chat inside and outside by the bikes. He gave me a tire changing pad that was a demo unit from the event he had just left that weekend. I’m pretty sure I had just listened to him recently on a podcast about Back Country Discovery. Fun encounter.
The ride to Dubois becomes more and more interesting the farther we go.
Really great stuff. There is a bit of a mental adjustment needed to ride in Wyoming. The back roads all have a speed limit of 70 MPH. Which means closing speeds are much quicker than riding around home. It takes some getting used to. I reached an intersection and saw a propane truck coming in the distance. At home I would always try to get out ahead of trucks. You never want to get stuck behind a slow truck on a twisty road. Out of habit I asked DM if she was there and she said yes, I took off to get ahead of the truck. She looked right and saw the truck coming at 70 mph and asked “are you trying to kill me?” Followed by several rounds of “I can’t believe you’re trying to kill me.” No, I wasn’t trying to kill her, but point made. After much soul-searching we discussed what happened (what I did wrong), and what adjustments needed to be made to avoid future potentially dangerous situations. I also had to acknowledge I was doing a bad job of slowing down and getting into sightseeing mode.
Our motel that night had a gravel driveway/parking lot that was incredibly deep with gravel. I needed to turn around DM’s bike which isn’t too bad for me since it is more than 2” lower than my bike. It took DM pushing and me using a lot of energy to get bike turned around in the parking lot. The wheels would just sink into the gravel and it was pretty challenging.
Day 5 Dubois, WY to Bozeman, MT
Approx miles: 250
Short mileage today and the weather was no longer cooperating. We left in rain, but it didn’t last too long.
The rain ended about the time you could start seeing the Tetons off in the distance. We do love the Tetons.
At the end of this video we are sitting in traffic caused by a mama black bear and cub being up ahead. From my vantage point I had just pointed to them as they crossed the road. This was a very long backup with a lot of cars stopped on both sides of the bears. As we finally rode by there were people running from their parked cards with cameras at the ready. This became a pretty common site on the trip between here and the end of the Canadian Rockies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1fty4DxjL4
Unfortunately this was also the end of our nice day. From here we drove into Yellowstone NP and were welcomed with a hail storm that was at times a bit painful even through our Klim gear. You would hear one of us go “ouch” then start laughing. It was more amusing than annoying, but we weren’t disappointed when it stopped.
You can actually see and hear the hail in this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP2qsiNpWd8
We had lunch in the Old Faithful area of the park. As we were leaving we heard someone saying the NP Rangers were telling everyone to get inside due to an approaching large thunderstorm. You don’t need to tell us twice to stay away from lightening. Back inside for another hour. When it finally passed we had been very close to Old Faithful for more than 2 hours and never in a place to watch it go off even once. That’s fine, we’ve seen it before.
On to Bozeman where we stayed at an interesting place called the C’mon Inn. Giant log cabin looking on the outside. Entertaining looking on the inside with waterfalls and surprise hot tubs. Really different from a standard hotel. Enjoyed it and would definitely stay there again. They look to be a small chain with hotels in the mid-west and Wyoming.
Next up… Glacier National Park and all of Canada.
We decided we enjoyed our tour of the western states in 2015 and decided we'd go out to Glacier National Park to see Going to the Sun Road this time. While talking about this plan at work someone suggested that if we go that far we should make sure to go to Banff. I had no idea what Banff was, so I looked it up. That looked interesting and while checking the map I noticed a place called Ice Field Parkway just above it. Research showed that also looked interesting, we should add that to the trip. That's when I noticed how close Ice Field was to the lower southern tip of Alaska. Hum...we'd be so close, we should go touch Alaska to say we've been there. Yep, that's the plan. We'll do Glacier, Banff, Ice Field Parkway, and jump into Hyder, Alaska before returning home.
After much discussion I decided this was to celebrate our 30th, so why not take off 3 weeks and actually really do Alaska. We then made plans to ride to the Arctic Circle, explore Alaska then ship the bikes home from Anchorage. Since we had to go west for this trip we decided to ride to the Grand Tetons (a favorite from our 2015 ride) before heading north. We finally had a plan in place.
Bikes were prepped
Day 1 - Northern Virginia to California, PA
167 miles
Left work early today to get a jump on the trip. Figured we could get in at least 6 hours heading west, probably make it to Ohio. It was hot and very humid when we hit the road this afternoon. Tropical Storm Cindy was making its way to the area and atmosphere was unstable. We'll certainly be hitting rain, but still expect to get in a few hundred miles over 6 or 7 hours today.
Despite our (my) declaration we would pack light for this trip, both bikes felt heavy and sluggish as we started. Not really surprised. We've never been successful at taking only what we need.
Made it to the Pennsylvania line with no rain. Sky was looking threatening so we stopped for gas and to see if we could get enough wifi to check the radar on the phone. No luck on wifi, but the 45 minute old radar picture on my Garmin Zumo 660 didn't look all that bad. Zipped vents closed and prepared for some rain. DM decides to keep wearing her fingerless gloves rather than switching to the hotter rain gloves. A few minutes later the rain started and the road ahead looked darker than expected.
15 minutes after the gas stop it's raining so hard the cars are pulling off the road because their fast wiper speed just isn't enough. Hard to imagine what they were thinking as they watched us go by. Fortunately our anti-fog and waterproof gear was working as expected, we were dry with good visibility and pressed on. For the next hour we ignored the hard rain and the primary source of frustration was inflicted by the automated toll booths on the PA Turnpike. They are annoying and very glitch prone. Not fun to fight with in the pouring rain.
With the last toll booth behind us we are nearing our first interstate, I-70...time to start munching some miles. That's when the lightening flashed ahead of us. Crap! I do hate riding in lightening, want nothing to do with it. We take the first exit into California, PA. As we are riding into town a "Tornado Warning" appears on my Zumo screen. I really want nothing to do with that. We duck into a Subway to check the radar, get a bite to eat, and figure out what we need to do. By the time we take our gear off and sit it looks like we brought in a bucket of water and dumped throughout the store.
The bikes patiently wait outside Subway ready to carry out our decision.
Unfortunately with tornado warnings outside we decide to cut today short. We end the day less than 170 miles from home. It's a bit disappointing. The disappointment only grew when I found my left gore-tex boot actually leaked. Not a lot, but my illusion that gore-tex could never leak is shattered.
DM heads to the bathroom to try to scrub the black dye from her fingerless gloves which had bled and completely stained her hands. This was attempt number 2 since the soap at Subway was useless for removing dye. Quite a start to the ride.
Day 2 - California, PA to Burlington, IA
675 miles
Morning at the hotel.
Initial wet roads give way to a gorgeous day. An absolutely perfect day for a long ride. Ideal weather made it easy to knock down one state after another. Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana and the confusion of getting through Indianapolis. We took a break in Illinois. Just a few minutes off the bikes to study maps at McDonalds.
Back on the bikes, get to Peoria and turn directly west towards the Mississippi. Two hours later it was time for a gas stop. That's when I discovered my credit card was missing. DM is not pleased with my ability to lose things. As she is ripping apart my wallet and tank bag looking for the card a Harley rider from the pump on our right comes walking over. He's fascinated with these strange looking bikes. He asks a few questions about the bikes, then asks me about big-foot in Virginia. I tell him I think they are only in Washington. He assures me they are everywhere and tells me he found a big-foot nest on his ride last week. After he finishes explaining the structure of a big-foot nest I assure him I'll keep an eye out for them in the future. He rides off happy. The couple on the Harley to our left are also amused by our strange bikes. A couple of questions later they ask where we're going. When they hear Alaska they just laugh, wish us well and ride off with big smiles.
When I ask DM what she thought about the guy inquiring about big-foot in Virginia she has absolutely no idea what I'm talking about. She heard none of it and between the lost credit card and now talking about big-foot I believe she is wondering about my sanity.
We cross the Mississippi River and reach Burlington, Iowa. Burlington appears to take their minor league baseball very seriously. We're told the hotels are mostly sold out due to the baseball games in town. We stop at a local BBQ place to figure out our next move. The Goldwing rider in line behind us tells us he found a hotel in town and they still have rooms. A local couple started asking us about what we were doing so far from home. They happily told us about their town and told us we must check out Snake Alley. They were great to speak with and they were the first of many great people we'd encounter on this trip.
After eating, our new Glodwing friend led us to the motel he found. He was on his 16th day of his trip out to California. The motel wasn't pretty, it wasn't what I'd call clean, but it was available, had a very friendly proprietor, so we spent the $60 for the night and just didn't unpack that evening.
Even at $60 the room came with two orange top water bottles that will travel all the way to Alaska with us. You'll see them on the bags behind us in nearly all the pictures of the bike from this point forward.
Day 3 - Burlington, IA to Sidney, NE
710 Miles
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYp-tY_crig
Bottom of Snake Alley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iHKs3waaa4
Yes, DM hit the ground due to bad footing on the Snake. I'm sure I contributed to this since I did not leave her a lot of options on where to stop. Even with a lowered Tenere the bike is still enormous to a 5'6" DM. Where to stop is a big consideration and I should have left her more options. What impressed me was how quickly helpful people appeared. I didn't even have my bike parked before these two guys were there and lifting her bike. They were so helpful and a much appreciated example of how people are willing to step up and do what they could for a motorcyclist (probably anyone). We stood there and talked for a minute or two afterwards. Great guys. DM felt embarrassed for a while despite my best attempts to remind her we all do it. But I understand, I'm embarrassed when I drop a bike, too.
It was another great weather day. We saw an interesting Welcome Home Soldier memorial under construction in Iowa.
We also saw a big John Deer factory, enormous farms in Iowa and Nebraska, farm equipment dealers nearly every 20 minutes, and a Harley dealer in every town. HD really owns the middle of the country. We were true oddities wherever we went. Hi-viz and strange (non-cruiser) bikes, we stood out. That actually was fun since everyone was curious and very friendly. We stopped for lunch and as soon as I opened a map at the table an older couple came up and started talking to us. They told us of what they experienced in Alaska and suggested things they enjoyed from their bus ride up there years ago. Later when walking by a table with a family sitting there the dad started asking questions and was just fascinated with the idea of where we had traveled in the past and where we were heading this time. They just seemed so taken with the idea people ride motorcycles to places that seem so far away. It was a fun way to spend lunch. All of us riders already know how special riding is on an individual level. It was a real pleasure seeing that our passion can bring smiles to others. A great stop.
It was our longest ride day ever. When got to hotel we were so exhausted we didn't bother with dinner. I walked to the lobby and found a couple of cookies near the check-in desk. Good enough. We each had a cookie, drank from our CamelBacks and called it a night.
Day 4 Sidney, NE to Dubois, WY
430 miles (approx - I stopped paying attention to it at this point)
DD useless/short lived/ignored declaration: We don’t need to hammer the miles anymore, we can slow down and let vacation begin.
DM quote of the day : You tried to kill me...you tried to kill me...I can't believe you tried to kill me.
Yet another perfect day. Can’t believe how lucky we’ve been with weather. We cross into Wyoming and the terrain almost immediately changes. We love Wyoming. It feels like we’re in the West again. The 80 MPH speed limit makes munching miles easy. We stop in Rawlins for lunch. The first town we’ve repeated since our 2015 ride. It's getting warm at this point and after dragging DM through the downtown section of Rawlins looking for the hotel and restruant we were at 2 years ago, I finally give up and we head back over to where we saw a McDonalds. As we were eating, a guy named Rob comes up and introduces himself. He was from Back Country Discovery and wanted to say hello to the riders of the Virginia bikes he’d seen in the parking lot. We had a nice chat inside and outside by the bikes. He gave me a tire changing pad that was a demo unit from the event he had just left that weekend. I’m pretty sure I had just listened to him recently on a podcast about Back Country Discovery. Fun encounter.
The ride to Dubois becomes more and more interesting the farther we go.
Really great stuff. There is a bit of a mental adjustment needed to ride in Wyoming. The back roads all have a speed limit of 70 MPH. Which means closing speeds are much quicker than riding around home. It takes some getting used to. I reached an intersection and saw a propane truck coming in the distance. At home I would always try to get out ahead of trucks. You never want to get stuck behind a slow truck on a twisty road. Out of habit I asked DM if she was there and she said yes, I took off to get ahead of the truck. She looked right and saw the truck coming at 70 mph and asked “are you trying to kill me?” Followed by several rounds of “I can’t believe you’re trying to kill me.” No, I wasn’t trying to kill her, but point made. After much soul-searching we discussed what happened (what I did wrong), and what adjustments needed to be made to avoid future potentially dangerous situations. I also had to acknowledge I was doing a bad job of slowing down and getting into sightseeing mode.
Our motel that night had a gravel driveway/parking lot that was incredibly deep with gravel. I needed to turn around DM’s bike which isn’t too bad for me since it is more than 2” lower than my bike. It took DM pushing and me using a lot of energy to get bike turned around in the parking lot. The wheels would just sink into the gravel and it was pretty challenging.
Day 5 Dubois, WY to Bozeman, MT
Approx miles: 250
Short mileage today and the weather was no longer cooperating. We left in rain, but it didn’t last too long.
The rain ended about the time you could start seeing the Tetons off in the distance. We do love the Tetons.
At the end of this video we are sitting in traffic caused by a mama black bear and cub being up ahead. From my vantage point I had just pointed to them as they crossed the road. This was a very long backup with a lot of cars stopped on both sides of the bears. As we finally rode by there were people running from their parked cards with cameras at the ready. This became a pretty common site on the trip between here and the end of the Canadian Rockies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1fty4DxjL4
Unfortunately this was also the end of our nice day. From here we drove into Yellowstone NP and were welcomed with a hail storm that was at times a bit painful even through our Klim gear. You would hear one of us go “ouch” then start laughing. It was more amusing than annoying, but we weren’t disappointed when it stopped.
You can actually see and hear the hail in this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP2qsiNpWd8
We had lunch in the Old Faithful area of the park. As we were leaving we heard someone saying the NP Rangers were telling everyone to get inside due to an approaching large thunderstorm. You don’t need to tell us twice to stay away from lightening. Back inside for another hour. When it finally passed we had been very close to Old Faithful for more than 2 hours and never in a place to watch it go off even once. That’s fine, we’ve seen it before.
On to Bozeman where we stayed at an interesting place called the C’mon Inn. Giant log cabin looking on the outside. Entertaining looking on the inside with waterfalls and surprise hot tubs. Really different from a standard hotel. Enjoyed it and would definitely stay there again. They look to be a small chain with hotels in the mid-west and Wyoming.
Next up… Glacier National Park and all of Canada.
